Month: February 2020

To the 80,000 parents — um, make that students — who will compete in the upcoming St. Louis Science Fair, Washington University in St. Louis senior Sam Martorana offers this advice: Follow your passion, not the rubric. 

As business manager of Edison Theatre and the 560 Music Center, Bill Larson is responsible for a variety of duties, from booking shows to selling tickets to even mopping the stage. “I want to make the 560 and Edison a destination for everybody on campus,” he said.

Zoom video conferencing service debuted Feb. 1 as Washington University’s primary video conferencing tool. All faculty, staff and students can use the service for free by signing in with their WUSTL Key.

The administration at Washington University in St. Louis is tracking developments with the novel coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China. Community members can stay up to date with the latest information here.  

The Dred Scott Heritage Foundation has selected Sowande’ Mustakeem, associate professor of history and of African and African-American studies, both in Arts & Sciences, as a recipient of its 2020 Dred Scott Freedom Award.

Menstruation is considered taboo in Ethiopia, and girls often miss school or drop out because of their periods. Freweini Mebrahtu designed a solution — and, with support from St. Louis-based charity Dignity Period, founded by a Washington University faculty member, it has benefited nearly 800,000 girls and women. Mebrahtu was recently named CNN’s “Hero of the Year.”

Barbara G. Pickard, professor emerita of biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, died Dec. 6, 2019, in St. Louis from complications related to hip surgery. She was 83.

Carla Aichs, a dispatcher with the Washington University Police Department, died suddenly Jan. 15, 2020. 

Studying mice, researchers at the School of Medicine and their colleagues have shown that a drug compound can block damage caused by too much glutamate signaling, raising the possibility of medication that prevents noise-induced hearing loss.

Washington University in St. Louis has again earned Tree Campus USA status from the Arbor Day Foundation for its commitment to effective urban forest management.