Captain Husky (Max Waugh Photography)
The Legacy of Captain Husky
Life at the University of Washington has come full circle for Barry Erickson (BA 1986), a.k.a. “Captain Husky.”
Captain Husky (Max Waugh Photography)
Erickson’s time at the UW started at the age of one on the shoulders of his father, going to Husky football games in the 1960s.
During his undergraduate years at the business school, Captain Husky was born. The ubiquitous superfan, with mask, cape and purple W emblazoned on his muscled chest, roamed the sidelines and stands and fired up the fans for a 25-year run that ended with the remodeling of Husky Stadium in 2011.
…Until 2017.
That year, Captain Husky swapped the familiar mask and cape for a blazer and joined the Foster School of Business to become a lecturer in marketing and sales and, eventually, director of the Foster School’s Professional Sales Program. After a distinguished career in sales and strategy at Goodrich, PACCAR, B/E Aerospace and DPS, Erickson succeeded the program’s founding director Jack Rhodes (BA 1961), who turned over the keys this year after nearly 20 at the helm.
Foster Events
To keep up with the full calendar of Foster School events visit:foster.uw.edu/foster-alumniToday, Erickson’s responsibilities include teaching the core sales courses at Foster, development and facilitation of sales internships with local companies, and providing recruiting opportunities with the program’s 165 students.
Erickson’s life-long commitment to the Purple & Gold is evident in the classroom, where his love and enthusiasm for the Dawgs are infectious. He ends each week’s class with a survey of whom he will see at Husky Stadium (or any Husky event) over the weekend. Whether autumn, winter or spring, a hearty “GO DAWGS!” adjourns each class.
Of course, Erickson’s UW circle was not quite complete with his joining the Foster School faculty. His daughter Halle is a freshman and son Kelton is a junior at the UW this year.
And Kelton, who used to play Captain Husky’s trusty sidekick, Deputy Dawg, now dons his dad’s legendary cape on Montlake Saturdays as Captain Husky 2.0 to lead the traditional second-half, full-throated spelling of H-U-S-K-I-E-S!
Not that the original Captain Husky brings any less energy and spirit. It’s just that some of it now gets channeled into the Professional Sales Program, which continues its strong trajectory, boasting an annual 98+ percent student job placement rate and similar rate of return for company hosts and program sponsors awaiting the next class of program grads well prepared to hit the job running.
