Denny Heck '73
Lieutenant Governor of Washington State
Denny Heck first crossed Red Square in the summer of 1971 as the campus was being completed for that fall’s inaugural classes. He was immediately hired to scrape the walls clean of the under-construction lecture hall, now named Purce Hall.
He attended Evergreen full time and year-round graduating in December of 1973 and began a lifetime of intermittent public service with periodic forays into both nonprofit leadership and private sector investments.
In 1976, at the age of 24, he was elected to the first of five terms in the State House of Representatives where he served as Majority Leader. He subsequently served as Chief of Staff to Governor Booth Gardner. He followed this with co-founding and serving as CEO of TVW, Washington State’s public affairs television network, where he won an Emmy for writing and directing a documentary.
Denny then tried his hand at a startup. He co-founded a company in Olympia with two employees that grew to more than 300 before it was sold. He tried retiring but failed miserably when he reentered public service and was elected as the first-ever member of Congress from the newly-created 10th Congressional District in 2012. While in Congress, he served on the House Intelligence Committee and was a leader in the first impeachment investigation.
Denny served four terms in the U.S. House before retiring in 2020. Yet again, he failed retirement and decided at the last minute to run for and was elected Lieutenant Governor. As Washington State’s 17th Lieutenant Governor, he serves as President of the State Senate and Chair of the Rules Committee.
Throughout his roller coaster ride, Denny has always maintained connections to his beloved alma mater. He served on the Evergreen Foundation Board for several years and later, on the Board of Trustees. Additionally, he and his wife, Paula, established an endowed scholarship fund for low income and first-generation students. He hopes that all those able to do so would consider supporting students at Evergreen.
Denny’s second favorite thing to do in the world is write. He’s written four books. His latest is Sausage, a compelling account of what serving in Congress is really like. He is now at work on his second novel.
His very favorite thing to do is spend time with Paula. He says they are newlyweds since they have only been married 46+ years. They have two grown sons. Denny has promised Paula that whenever he retires again, it will stick.