The 25th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 16, in Graham Chapel. This year’s theme is “Creating a Community of Access, Inclusion and Excellence for All … Fear is Not an Option.” Events also will take place at the School of Medicine, the Brown School and the School of Law.

Providing clues to deafness, researchers at the School of Medicine have identified a gene that is required for proper development of the mouse inner ear. In humans, this gene, known as FGF20, is located in a portion of the genome that has been associated with inherited deafness in otherwise healthy families.

Staff and faculty  — and their family members — are invited to the women’s and men’s basketball games beginning at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7, as the teams battle University Athletic Association rival University of Chicago. A number of special offerings — including $1 food specials for those who RSVP — will be available during this fun afternoon of basketball in the Athletic Complex.

Richard Stang, PhD, professor emeritus of English in Arts & Sciences, died Dec. 14, 2011, of pancreatic cancer. He was 86. Stang specialized in 19th-century English literature, particularly the Victorian period.

The following are among the new faculty members at Washington University: Jan Bieschke, PhD; John Cunningham, PhD; Kristen Naegle, PhD; and Kedron Thomas, PhD. Others will be introduced periodically.

11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 4

Dept. of Psychiatry Wednesday Research Seminar Series

“Depression in Smokers,”  Michele L. Pergadia, research asst. prof. of psychiatry, and “Pathway Analysis for Nicotine Dependence GWAS,” Oscar Harari, postdoctoral research associate in psychiatry. Free and open to the public. Wohl Clinic Bldg., Clopton Aud. (314) 362-2462.

Tsinghua University’s English summer camp looking for volunteers

Faculty and students are being asked to participate as both visiting teachers and volunteers in Tsinghua University’s annual English summer camp, June 26 -July 13 in Beijing, China. Deadline for teachers is Feb. 15; volunteers’ deadline is March 15. For more information, contact Frank Yin, PhD, at yin@biomed.wustl.edu.

James W. Fleshman Jr., MD

A pioneer in laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer. FULL STORY

Women’s basketballs wins Wartburg Holiday tourney

The No. 10 women’s basketball team battled its way to two wins at the Wartburg Holiday Tournament, beating University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 61-48, before claiming the tournament title Dec. 30 with a 47-37 win over host Wartburg College. Senior guard Dani Hoover was named tournament MVP.