Life Beyond Reed
Your life beyond Reed is more than your first job or your graduate school acceptance letter. It's using your Reed education to lead a life of passion and purpose, supported by a network of kindred alumni. Once a Reedie, always a Reedie.
A Reed degree represents the liberal arts in the truest sense. A small learning environment, a classical curriculum coupled with an emphasis on independent inquiry and research, and professors who put teaching first all help to develop in Reed students the critical thinking and problem solving skills that are always in demand in the job market as well as at top graduate and professional schools. Wherever you choose to go after Reed, you'll be prepared for success.
The Center for Life Beyond Reed will support you from your first semester to your last as you prepare for life after graduation. Programming includes
- one-on-one counseling, during which you can explore majors, career options, and other postgraduate possibilities;
- internships, fellowships, and awards that will deepen your scholarly interests and give you valuable job training with paid opportunities over winter and summer breaks;
- job listings, both on and off campus, through a variety of databases including Switchboard, a by-Reedies-and-for-Reedies online marketplace of "asks" and "offers";
- networking opportunities—virtual and face-to-face—with alumni volunteers eager to share their knowledge;
- hands-on workshops in resume writing, graduate and professional school application preparation, interview skills, and more.
The diverse career paths of Reed's many distinguished alumni tell you what's possible with a Reed education. Read about recent graduates in Reed's alumni magazine.
Distinguished Alumni
Distinguished alumni include bestselling author Barbara Ehrenreich ’63; geneticist Pamela Ronald ’82, who developed a strain of flood-tolerant rice; neuroscientist Kenneth Koe ’45, inventor of Zoloft; environmental chemist and mountaineer Arlene Blum ’66; beat poet Gary Snyder ’51; and attorney William Hohengarten ’84, whose arguments persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down Texas laws against sodomy. (Notable dropouts include Steve Jobs.) See a longer list of Reed alumni on Wikipedia; incidentally, Wikipedia was cofounded by Larry Sanger ’91.
Young Alumni
Recent alumni include Kali Borkoski ’10, manager of SCOTUSblog; Dan Denvir ’05, staff writer at Philadelphia City Paper and contributor to the Guardian, the Atlantic, and Salon; Roger Hobbs ’11, author of the New York Times bestseller Ghostman; Su Liu ’13, events QA analyst at Riot Games; and Blair Saxon-Hill ’02, co-founder of Monograph Bookwerks, in Portland, Oregon.