June 11, 2008

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Howard Lincoln, a member of the Western Washington University Board of Trustees and the CEO of the Seattle Mariners, will be the keynote speaker at the WWU spring quarter graduation ceremonies.

Graduation is Saturday, June 14. Students for general studies majors, the College of Business and Economics, Fairhaven College, Huxley College of the Environment, College of Sciences and Technology and Woodring College of Education will graduate at 9 a.m. Students in the colleges of Fine and Performing Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences will graduate at 2 p.m.

About 1,750 undergraduate and 400 master's candidates will be at the ceremonies.

Tickets are required for entrance, but it also can be viewed on a big screen in the SMATE building or in Arntzen 100. It also will be televised on Comcast channel 26.

Howard Lincoln

On January 27, 2006, Governor Christine Gregoire appointed Howard Lincoln to Western's Board of Trustees to fill an unexpired term ending on September 30, 2010.

A key player in the formation of the ownership group that saved the Seattle Mariners in 1992, Howard Lincoln was named chairman and chief executive officer on September 27, 1999.

Mr. Lincoln retired from his position as chairman of Nintendo of America, Inc. to devote his full efforts to the Mariners on February 14, 2000. He joined Nintendo as its senior vice president and general counsel in January 1983. In February 1994, he was elected to the board of Nintendo of America, Inc., and appointed chairman of the company.

Philanthropy plays an important role in Mr. Lincoln's life. In addition to his strong support of the Mariners Care Foundation, he serves as chairman of the Children's Hospital Foundation. He was the 2003-2004 Campaign Chair of the United Way of King County. He serves on the boards of ArtsFund, the Bellevue Boys & Girls Club, and the Chief Seattle Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

Mr. Lincoln is a graduate of the University of California of Berkeley, and holds a law degree from Boalt Hall, the University of California School of Law. Following graduation from law school, Lincoln served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps from 1966 to 1970. He practiced law in Seattle from 1970 to 1982. Lincoln lives on Mercer Island with his wife, Grace. Their son Brad and his wife Kim have two young sons, Ethan and Benjamin.