We give because 
college changes lives

For Merisa and Daniel Heu-Weller, giving back to the UW is a way to offer students the kind of life-changing opportunities they were given.

Merisa, ’07, and Daniel, ’02, ’08, met as high schoolers in Olympia. After earning their bachelor’s degrees — Merisa from Stanford, and Daniel (a third-generation Husky) from the UW — the couple married and were both accepted to the UW School of Law.

The Heu-Wellers felt supported from the start, especially as they prepared to welcome their first baby. A law school donor had funded a room where parents could watch a live stream of class while nursing, resting or caring for themselves and their children. “We felt loved by the UW because of that room,” says Merisa. “It seemed like everyone was rooting for us.”

Today, Merisa is an attorney at Microsoft and chair of the Bellevue College Board of Trustees, and Daniel, who also earned his MBA from the UW, is a senior vice president at Wells Fargo and president of the UW Alumni Association Board of Trustees.

“We’re so appreciative of the role that higher education has played in our family,” says Daniel. In gratitude, the Heu-Wellers donate to scholarship programs to provide current Huskies — particularly students of color and first-generation students — with both resources and encouragement. Their generosity also follows the example set by their parents, who established The Learning Seed scholarship foundation for college students of color.

“Through giving, we want students to know they have a champion,” says Daniel. “We’re telling them, ‘You are worthwhile, and you will do great things.’”