Announcing our Alumni Graduation Speaker: Judge Salvador Mendoza, Jr. (UW Philosophy B.A. 1994)

We are pleased to share that the alumni speaker for our 2021 Philosophy graduation ceremony will be philosophy alumnus Judge Salvador Mendoza Jr. (UW Philosophy B.A. 1994). The Department of Philosophy graduation ceremony will take place virtually on June 11, 2021, and we look forward to Judge Mendoza’s words of wisdom for our graduating students. [Note: The graduation ceremony is a private event for graduates and their family and close friends. A recording of Judge Mendoza’s address will be available at a later date.]

Judge Mendoza currently serves as a United States District Judge in the Eastern District of Washington. He was appointed in 2014 by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the United States Senate. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy in 1994 from the University of Washington and his Juris Doctor degree from UCLA School of Law in 1997. At UCLA, he was the Co-Editor in Chief of the Chicano-Latino Law Review. From 1997-1999 he was an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Washington and Deputy Prosecutor for Franklin County. Judge Mendoza was in private practice from 1999-2013 handling state civil and criminal cases along with federal criminal cases. In May 2013, Governor Jay Inslee appointed Judge Mendoza to the Superior Court bench for Benton and Franklin counties. Judge Mendoza routinely sits by designation on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The majority of his free time is devoted to his children’s sports and school activities in Richland, WA.