Author: Barbara Rea

Washington University School of Law will establish a Prosecution Law Clinic in partnership with the City of St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office. The clinic will be funded by a generous gift from former prosecutor and law alumna Alicia McDonnell (right) (JD ’95), who hopes to strengthen the ranks of criminal prosecutors by creating opportunities for talented law students to gain hands-on experience essential to a career in criminal justice.

Why are we driven to love, and how do we choose whom to love? Biological anthropologist Helen Fisher, PhD, has been asking such questions for decades. She will discuss love for the Assembly Series at 5 p.m. Friday, April 4, in Louderman Hall.

The Assembly Series program featuring actor Joe Pantoliano set for March 31 has been canceled due to a sudden change in his filming schedule. There are no plans to reschedule the event.

World-renowned archaeologist John M. Camp will give this year’s John and Penelope Biggs Lecture in the Classics for the Assembly Series. His lecture, “Greece between Antiquity and Modernity: View of Two Early 19th Century Travelers” will be held at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 27, in Steinberg Hall Auditorium on Washington University in St. Louis’ Danforth Campus. It is free and open to the public.

Nothing in Adam Steltzner’s younger years pointed to his becoming NASA’s chief engineer for the highly delicate landing of the Curiosity rover on Mars. He flunked high school geometry and dropped out to join a rock band. On March 26, Steltzner will tell how “Curiosity Changed My Life” for the Assembly Series. His presentation, which will begin at 6 p.m. in Graham Chapel, is free and open to the public.

For decades, neuroscientist Richard Davidson, PhD, has been conducting research on the positive impact of contemplative practices such as meditation on the brain. The work may have important ramifications for treating mental disorders. Davidson was on campus this month to deliver the Witherspoon Memorial Lecture on Religion and Science for the Assembly Series and a talk for the Department of Psychology.​

Jon Huntsman Jr., a former Republican presidential candidate and ambassador to China, visited WUSTL recently and discussed challenges facing America. Read more to check out his Feb. 25 speech for the Assembly Series.

Civil rights champion and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission member Chai Feldblum, JD, will visit Washington University in St. Louis on March 17 and 18 to participate in programs commemorating the passing of Title VII, a key piece of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as to celebrate International Women’s Day.

Sean B. Carroll, PhD, is an evolutionary biologist, popular author, educator and Washington University alumnus (LA ’79) who discovered the beauty of the humanities while studying biology as a student here. His embrace of both worlds informs his most recent book, “Brave Genius: A Scientist’s Journey from the French Resistance to the Nobel Prize,” and is the title of his Assembly Series lecture at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6, in Graham Chapel.

The Washington University in St. Louis Assembly Series turned 60 in 2013, and to mark such an august occasion, it’s fitting to remember why the lecture series was conceived in the first place. The Assembly Series launched during the institution’s centennial celebration in 1953 as a way to involve the broader St. Louis community in the robust intellectual life on campus.