Commencement week begins with a variety of celebrations and ceremonies designed to warmly send the Class of 2011 out into the world. First up: The Chancellor’s Dinner to Honor Graduating Seniors at 6 p.m. tonight. More than 1,200 are expected at America’s Center ballroom as the WUSTL community celebrates the accomplishments of the class and acknowledges its positive impact. FULL STORY

URL: http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/22323.aspx

Within a year of starting classes at WUSTL, Kirsten Siebach became the youngest member of the Phoenix Mars Lander science team in Tucson, Ariz. She’ll graduate May 20 with a double major in earth and planetary sciences and chemistry and a minor in English. FULL STORY

URL: http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/22305.aspx

Phillip Tarr, MD, the Melvin E. Carnahan Professor in Pediatrics and director of pediatric gasteroenterology and nutrition at the School of Medicine, is a busy investigator juggling meetings, research, teaching and patient care. And he is a man driven to find answers to fight deadly diseases in newborns. FULL STORY

URL: http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/22251.aspx

New data offer hints to why Parkinson’s disease so selectively harms brain cells that produce the chemical dopamine, says Karen O’Malley, PhD, a researcher at the School of Medicine. The study appeared in the May 11 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. FULL STORY

URL: http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/22317.aspx

Ralph S. Quatrano, PhD, dean of the School of Engineering & Applied Science, checks out the hand glider designed and built by Fort Zumwalt West students during the Boeing Engineering Challenge May 6 at the Athletic Complex. About 180 high school students from 10 St. Louis-area school districts participated in the event. MORE

URL: http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/22321.aspx

• Noon. Hope Center/Neurology Seminar. “Treatment of ALS and FTLD: Hope for the Future?” Tim Miller, asst. prof. of neurology, and Nigel Cairns, research assoc. prof. of neurology. Sponsored by Hope Center for Neurological Disorders. Free and open to the public. Farrell LTC, Holden Aud. Contact: wilderspin@wustl.edu.

• Mallinckrodt Bank of America branch closed until July 5. Bank of America’s full-service branch in the Mallinckrodt Center remains closed through Monday, July 4. The bank is relocating to the first floor and will reopen with full service Tuesday, July 5.

• Women’s golf on the move in NCAA tournament. The women’s golf team, participating in the NCAA championship in Florida, had moved into the top 10 on the final day of competition. Find out how the WUSTL women finished — and how the men’s and women’s tennis and track and field teams performed over the weekend — at bearsports.wustl.edu.