North Campus Residence Halls Renamed to Honor Influential UW Professors
June 24, 2025 by Paige Stanley
The University of Washington (UW) recently announced that as of June 16, Madrona Hall will be renamed Spratlen Hall and Willow Hall will be renamed Oliver Hall. The Board of Regents approved this action in March of this year with the intent of implementation following Seattle Commencement. Both name changes reflect the UW’s commitment to advancing the mission of honoring impactful alumni who fostered a sense of belonging at the university.
Learn about these three amazing emeritus faculty members and alumni who greatly contributed to UW’s commitment to honoring diverse cultures.
Spratlen Hall
Spratlen Hall honors Thaddeus and Lois Price Spratlen – two African American professors who left a lasting legacy on the University of Washington and beyond.
Thaddeus Spratlen was a professor emeritus of marketing at the University of Washington Foster School of Business. After serving in the Army, Spratlen earned his BA, MA and PhD degrees from The Ohio State University. He became the second Black faculty member at Western Washington University and the first in the department of business and economics. In 1972, Spratlen came to the UW and became the first Black professor at the Foster School. Over the course of his 50 years at the UW, Spratlen became a significant figure on campus. He was the first faculty advisor to the Association of Black Business Students (ABBS), co-developed the Urban Crisis and the Contemporary Marketing Challenge course, co-founded the Consulting and Business Development Center, and published 75 research papers, books, chapters and documents about retail management as well as pressing urban, racial, ethnic and social issues around marketing and business.
Further, Spratlen served as associate and acting director of Afro-American Studies at the UW and as representative to the Faculty Legislature. He received the Foster Dean’s Citizenship Award and two Andrew V. Smith Faculty Development Awards. Spratlen also contributed greatly to the Black community beyond UW. He served as vice president of the ACLU of Washington and board president of the Jacob Lawrence Catalogue Raisonne Project. He also co-founded the Caucus of Black Economists, received the Frederick Douglass Scholar Award from the National Council of Black Studies and enshrined in The PhD Project Hall of Fame.
Lois Price Spratlen graduated from the UW in 1976 and after earning her masters in mental health nursing and PhD in urban planning, she became a professor of psychosocial and community health nursing at the UW. Lois was the first woman, first professional nurse and first African American to serve as UW ombudsman and was inducted into the Washington State Nurses Association Hall of Fame. With her husband, she created the Lois Price Spratlen Foundation to support the development of nursing leaders.
Thaddeus and Lois Price Spratlen were trailblazers in advocating for underrepresented minorities and underserved communities. Both served as mentors and role models for students of color and inspired a greater commitment to diversity and inclusion at the UW. Thaddeus passed away in 2021 and Lois in 2012, but their memory lives on through the Spratlen Lounge for Inclusion and Diversity in Founders Hall and now in the North Campus Residence Hall, Spratlen Hall.
Oliver Hall
Oliver Hall honors University of Washington graduate and professor emeritus, Marvin Oliver, who spent his career honoring the UW Native American Community.
Oliver earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in 1973. He then became a professor emeritus of American Indian Studies at the UW and Adjunct Curator of Contemporary Native American Art at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture. Oliver, of Quinault and Isleta-Pueblo heritage, greatly advanced the recognition of Native American contemporary art and culture. Early in his time at UW, he introduced a Raven’s Feast, an annual dinner to celebrate the accomplishments of American Indian and Alaska Native graduates.
Oliver was a master carver, sculptor, and printmaker. He described his art as "formulated by merging the spirit of past traditions with those of the present... to create new horizons for the future." Many of his artworks express Native American stories and traditions, including his carved and painted wood totem poles, cylinders, and door panels, as well as Northwest Coast-style baskets and spirit boards, kachinas and fins, faces and disks. His works are located on the University of Washington campus, throughout the Pacific Northwest, as well as internationally in Italy.
In 2019, Oliver was presented with the Charles E. Odegaard Award, which honors individuals whose leadership in the community exemplifies the former UW president’s work on behalf of diversity. The award presented at the UW Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity’s annual celebration recognized Oliver’s efforts to inspire students to celebrate their own identity.
In addition to his artwork around campus, Oliver, who passed away in 2019, will be remembered through the new North Campus Residence Hall, Oliver Hall.
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