Tuesday, June 28, 2016

After serving the nonprofit community for 40 years, primarily in financial management and fundraising, lecturer Karl Leggett is set to retire at the end of June. At the recent faculty and staff recognition event, Dean Uehara spoke enthusiastically about Karl’s decades of service, praising him for his unwavering dedication to the School, his passion for teaching and his unflagging willingness to mentor and support students as they begin their social work careers. For Associate Professor Jean Kruzich, Karl’s unique approach to teaching brings to mind psychologist Erik Erickson’s stages of psychosocial development. “The first word I think to describe Karl is generativity,” she said. “Generativity is Erickson’s seventh stage, where the primary concern is on establishing and guiding the next generation.” 

After earning two social work degrees from the UW (BASW ’76, MSW ’77), Karl began his professional career with United Way of America, helping local chapters increase their annual campaign results. Later, as a fund-raising consultant, he directed a number of multi-million dollar campaigns for national organizations in education, human services, religion, health care and the arts. He later managed development activities at Senior Services of Seattle/King County (now Sound Generations), The Hearthstone and Trinity Lutheran College. After joining the School as a guest lecturer in 1999, he taught a variety of classes on nonprofit financial management, grant writing and fundraising for human services.

A sailing enthusiast, Karl is looking forward to spending more time at sea and visiting more exotic locations. He and his wife Donna live in Lynnwood, Wash. They have two sons and a granddaughter.