How Martha Choe forged one of Washington’s most influential careers

Following a dinner with policymakers and alumni in Tacoma on November 4, 1987, the president of Western Washington University, G. Robert Ross, boarded a small plane. Two of the school’s vice presidents, Jeanene DeLille and Don Cole, joined him. As they made their way north to Bellingham, home of their university, the pilot dipped low for reasons that are still unknown. The plane became lost in the fog, and that was the last anyone heard from its occupants. A later news report would say it “disintegrated” as it hit a forest, killing everyone on board.

The university of roughly 10,000 students was thrown into disarray and grief following the crash. And as WWU worked through the tragedy, the school turned to Martha Choe — then a banking executive in her early 30s and member of the college’s board — to play a key role in guiding the institution into its next chapter, chairing the search committee for Ross’ replacement.

For Choe, this event was the start of her career in leadership.