Author: Ken Duenke

He double-majored, double-minored, maintained a 3.95 GPA and worked several part-time jobs to make ends meet.

In honor of a very special couple, $1.5 million has been raised by friends and colleagues to establish the Geraldine J. and Robert L. Virgil Professorship in Accounting and Management in Washington University’s John M. Olin School of Business. Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton announced the gift, which includes $300,000 from the University’s Sesquicentennial Endowed Professorship Challenge. Mahendra Gupta, Ph.D., professor of accounting in the John M. Olin School of Business, will be appointed as the first holder in a ceremony planned for later this year.

Photo by Mary ButkusWUSTL science majors volunteer each week to mentor an after-school science club for kids at Webster Middle School in North St. Louis.

Getting treated for a common type of cancer just became easier: An international team of surgeons including two at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has determined that minimally invasive surgery is as safe and effective as standard open surgery for most patients with cancer confined to the colon.

Sadat”The story of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison is shocking, and certainly requires a full investigation, and perhaps the criminal prosecution of some of those either directly or indirectly responsible,” says Leila N. Sadat, vice-president and co-director of studies of the American branch of the International Law Association. “However, one thing the story is not, is new. While leading an International Bar Association training program for Iraqi lawyers, judges and prosecutors in Dubai in February, I saw a story on CNN International which reported that 17 soldiers had been relieved of command due to allegations of torture and abuse. Sadat comments on her discussions with Iraqi lawyers as well as the treatment of civilians in the prison.

HamiltonMajor gifts from The Bellwether Foundation and from Nancy Morrill Smith will create the Robert Brookings Smith Distinguished Professorship in Entrepreneurship for Washington University’s John M. Olin School of Business, it was announced by Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. Barton H. Hamilton, Ph.D., professor of economics, management and entrepreneurship in the John M. Olin School of Business, will be appointed as the first holder in a ceremony planned for later this year.

There’s a telling slip of the tongue when Janet S. Rader, M.D., associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology and of genetics, lists the things she enjoys about her job. “I love taking care of patients,” Rader says, “I love doing research, I love being a mom … ” Rader pauses for a split-second to reorient […]

StreeterThe European Union (EU) added 10 new member nations on May 1, enlarging the union to a total of 25 countries with a combined population of 458 million. The U.S., with a total population of 293 million is still the sole political and economic superpower of the world but may yet be challenged by the EU for that status, according to William J. Streeter, a professor of international business at the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis.

The rise of corporate bankruptcies over the last few years has prompted legislators and academics alike to push for bankruptcy law reform. Fearing the death of legal liability, these reformers are calling for increased creditor protectionism through the weakening of limited liability and the reversal of “judgment proof” transactions such as the creation of special purpose entities (SPE) commonly used for the sequestering of assets. “Letting intellectual property (IP) assets slip into a bankruptcy estate is a dangerous idea,” says Troy Paredes, associate professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis.

The recently proposed rule by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) that requires companies to treat employee stock-option compensation as an expense on corporate income statements will reduce the reported income of firms, according to Todd Milbourn, a professor of finance at the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis. The new rule, if finalized after a 90-day comment period, will go into effect next year.