U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (left) and Francis S. Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, visited the School of Medicine this week to talk to researchers, administrators and entrepreneurs about scientific research and the need to boost and sustain federal funding for it.

Author Stephen Prothero, PhD, professor of religion at Boston University, will explore America’s cultural rifts from a historic perspective for the Assembly Series on Thursday, Oct. 23. His presentation, “Why Liberals Win: America’s Culture Wars from the Election of 1800 to Same-Sex Marriage,” is sponsored by the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics.

Ideas for improving efficiency have come in from all corners of the university. Now, faculty and staff can look at how some of these ideas can be implemented by serving on the Solutions for Achieving Value and Efficiency (SAVE) committee. The application deadline is Nov. 5.