Author: Jessica Daues

Twitter might appear to be one of many online attention drains, but tweeting often can prove practical. Washington University Libraries staff members are offering a series of free workshops aimed to help interested members of the WUSTL community explore how they can productively utilize this social media tool. All sessions are free to WUSTL students, faculty and staff.

Washington University in St. Louis has been ranked No. 8 in a recent “Green Metric” ranking of world universities by the University of Indonesia. The ranking measures university participants’ commitment to developing an environmentally friendly infrastructure. Results are based on information provided by universities on their energy efficiency, water usage, waste management, transportation and more.

WUSTL community members help place soil around the 750th tree to be planted on the Danforth Campus since 2008. The tree, a Swamp White Oak, was planted Dec. 15 and is located next to Brown Hall along the new Centennial Greenway bike path. Currently, the Danforth Campus is home to approximately 3,800 trees.

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

The university will host licensee fairs Wednesday, Jan. 11, on the Medical Campus and Tuesday, Jan. 17, on the Danforth Campus. The licensee fairs provide an opportunity for the university community to become better acquainted with the resources available through the WUSTL trademark licensing program, including already set-up artwork and service-oriented, knowledgeable licensed suppliers.

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

WUSTL community members interested in topics of sustainability can sign up for the Office of Sustainability’s weekly email newsletter, “Sustainability @ WUSTL”, by following the link on the right-hand side of the page at sustain.wustl.edu. The e-newsletter serves as a compilation of sustainability-related news, updates, events and jobs on-campus and in the region.

Rita A. Stanley arrived at the School of Law in 1995. Since then, the scenery and her duties changed, but a constant was excellent co-workers. “People were the reason I loved it here,” Stanley says. Stanley, along with the other 102 staff members who retired from the university this past year, contributed a total of 2,023 years of service to the university — more than two millennia.

A section of Throop Drive that runs in front of the Knight Center and Eliot Hall will close for construction beginning Thursday, Dec. 22. That stretch of Throop Drive will reopen Tuesday, Jan. 17. Also closing Dec. 22 are three levels Millbrook Garage’s southwest section that face the Knight Center and Eliot Hall. The three levels are slated for demolition and will not reopen. Both closings are in preparation for the construction of two new buildings for Olin Business School.

Bill Vann, lecturer in graphic illustration from 1978-1982, died suddenly in his sleep at his home in Webster Groves, Mo., Dec. 5, 2011. He was 71.