Some alumni call WashU home for just a few years before moving on to new adventures. Others build their professional and personal lives here. “When people ask me why I stay, it’s really because of the people,” says Jennifer Yu, BS ’08, BS ’08, MPHS ’15, MD ’12, an assistant professor of surgery at WashU Medicine. Since arriving on campus in fall 2004, Yu has forged deep bonds within the WashU community. Now, she and two fellow graduates reflect on the importance of those ties and why they continue to stick around their alma mater.
An incredible journey
As an undergrad, Tim Bono, AB ’05, MA ’08, PhD ’11, was busy. He wrote for Student Life and conducted campus tours. He was a Village resident adviser and served as a student representative to the Board of Trustees. But his favorite gig was working as a WashU Reunion intern.
Bono especially enjoyed chatting with the “Golden Bears,” alumni who returned to campus more than five decades after graduating. The celebrants eagerly peppered him with questions about contemporary student life and what he loved best about the university. He was honest: WashU was the most intellectually challenging environment he had ever experienced. But it was also full of kind and generous people who championed his success.
Bono still remembers the Class of 1939 alumna who leaned in and, without missing a beat, said, “Well, Tim, it’s nice to know some things don’t change even after 65 years.” Fresh off co-chairing his 20th reunion, Bono feels the weight of her words even more today. Since that moment, he has grown from a wide-eyed undergrad to bleary-eyed grad student to seasoned university administrator, faculty member and expert on the psychology of happiness.
For Bono, this arc would have been impossible without mentors. He credits several who had a profound impact on him — Henry Biggs, MBA ’04, LLM ’12, his undergraduate adviser; Jill Carnaghi, former dean of Campus Life; the late Randy Larsen, chair of the psychology department and his graduate adviser; and the late Dean James E. McLeod,who recruited him to the Office of Student Affairs in 2011. Each person, he says, recognized his potential and helped him identify the best ways to channel it.
“Sometimes, when I’m walking around the Quad, it’ll hit me,” Bono says. “I can’t believe I get to work here! And it’s because of people like Henry, Jill, Randy, Dean McLeod and many others. Their passion and dedication still inspire me to be the best version of myself.”
A good feeling
A chorus of pitchy medical students cemented Jennifer Yu’s decision to log another four years in St. Louis at WashU Medicine. When a conflict forced Yu to miss a preview weekend, admissions staff arranged for her to meet separately with current students. That evening, they took her to the annual Medical School Musical, which is partly funded by alumni giving to the WashU Medicine Annual Fund.
“I’ll never forget sitting there and thinking, ‘This is why I want to be part of WashU Medicine,’” Yu says. “The students were clearly passionate about medicine but had interests outside of it. They were having such a blast on stage. I was struck by their camaraderie.” Eventually, Yu transitioned from audience member to thespian and participated in three productions during her WashU Medicine training.
“I’ve always felt a strong sense of home here … ”
Jennifer Yu
While weighing surgical residency options four years later, she faced a similar dilemma: remain at WashU or venture elsewhere. As an undergrad, Yu had found fellowship and support with teammates in swimming and track and field. As a graduate student, she experienced the same sentiments with WashU Medicine faculty and classmates. Her residency decision ultimately came down to culture.
“I’ve always felt a strong sense of home here, especially in the Department of Surgery,” says Yu, who in addition to her faculty appointment sits on the Alumni Board of Governors. “I appreciate the learning environment and how the faculty interact with residents. I stayed for my residency and fellowships because I had a feeling.”
Now director of the general surgery residency program, Yu helps the next generation of students, trainees and fellows hone their skills. In 2022, she earned the medical school’s Clinical Educator of the Year and Gregario A. Sicard Teaching Fellow awards. “I believe I’m in the right place, at the right time, doing the right work,” she says. “And that feels good.”
More than a job
Bill Bauer, BSBA ’90, BS ’94, MSBA ’12, had only a couple days to relish being a newly minted WashU graduate before joining the university’s internal audit department as a full-time employee. “I graduated on a Friday and started working the following Monday because I needed to pay my rent for the month,” he says.
That post would be the first in a series of achievements defining Bauer’s nearly four-decade relationship with WashU. With encouragement from his boss, he pursued a second bachelor’s degree in information management while keeping up with his departmental responsibilities. Several years later, he shifted to the medical school’s financial planning office to become an analyst. He ultimately landed in the Program in Occupational Therapy, where he has been the director of business operations since 2005.
“What I value most about the university is its willingness to invest in people and develop their talents,” says Bauer, whose then-supervisor, Carolyn M. Baum, PhD, encouraged him to enroll in Olin Business School’s graduate program in 2011. “WashU is more than a job to me,” he says. “It’s my career and my home.”
WashU is also where Bauer built a family. He met his wife, Tracy, AB ’92, MSOT ’93,through a fraternity brother a few years after earning his first bachelor’s degree. They share two children, including second-generation alumna Anna Bauer, AB ’18. Bill Bauer, who recently attended his 35th reunion, is sanguine about the milestone. “Yeah, I never really leave,” he jokes.
