Friday marks a new beginning for members of the Class of 2011. Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton will confer degrees at the 150th Commencement ceremony, which begins at 8:30 a.m. Friday, May 20, in Brookings Quadrangle on the Danforth Campus. FULL STORY

URL: http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/22316.aspx

Earning a master’s of business administration degree from Olin Business School isn’t easy. Having your education interrupted to serve your country in Iraq makes it even more challenging. But Hugh Tychsen has met the obstacles head on, and will receive his MBA at Friday’s Commencement. FULL STORY

URL: http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/22310.aspx

Biologists have long thought that organ regeneration in animals like zebrafish and salamanders involved stem cells that can generate any tissue in the body. But new research from the School of Medicine has shown that the individual cells in a regenerating limb retain their original identities and only give rise to more of their own kind. FULL STORY

URL: http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/22328.aspx

Christine Diepenbrock (left), president of WUSTL’s Latino Youth Tutoring/Mentoring Programs, and Rachel Mandelbaum, a tutor in the program, attended the St. Louis Public Schools Community Education Council’s awards ceremony May 6 at Vashon High School. Diepenbrock accepted an Outstanding Community Partners award on behalf of her group. MORE

URL: http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/22339.aspx

• 4 p.m. Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Seminar. “Chemical Approaches to Sorting Out Protein Phosphorylation.” Philip A. Cole, prof. and dir. of pharmacology and molecular sciences., Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Free and open to the public. McDonnell sciences Bldg., Rm. 264. (314) 362-4152.

• Inaugural Lavender Recognition Ceremony today. The first Lavender Recognition Ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. today in College Hall in the South 40 House. Co-hosted by LGBT Student Involvement and Leadership and the Social Justice Center, the ceremony honors the achievements and contributions of graduating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer students and their allies.

• Men’s tennis advances to NCAA quarterfinal. The No. 5 men’s tennis team defeated Luther College 5-0 and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 5-1 to capture its fifth-straight NCAA Division III regional championship and advance to the NCAA quarterfinals May 24-26 in Claremont, Calif. Up next for the Bears is No. 6 Kenyon College.