Author: Leslie Gibson McCarthy

Graduate student groups and individual leaders at Washington University in St. Louis who help “bridge the gaps” between graduate and professional students from diverse areas of study throughout WUSTL’s seven schools were recognized during a recent awards ceremony and reception. The Graduate Professional Council’s Bridging GAPS (Graduate and Professional Students) Awards Ceremony was held April 9 in the Danforth University Center’s Goldberg Formal Lounge.

Third-year law students Justin Lepp, Nick Rosinia and Mikela Sutrina are the first Washington University in St. Louis School of Law team to win the American Bar Association’s (ABA) National Appellate Advocacy Competition, the largest and most competitive moot court competition in the country. The students went a combined 11-0 in the Seattle Regional and National Final en route to the championship April 14, surpassing 209 other teams from 118 law schools.

The No. 17 men’s tennis team won its seventh straight match with an 8-1 victory over No. 30 DePauw University April 21 at the Tao Tennis Center. WUSTL is 9-0 this season at home has won 15 straight home matches dating back to last season. Updates also included on women’s tennis, women’s golf, track & field, softball and baseball.

Washington University in St. Louis will award six honorary degrees during the university’s 151st Commencement May 18. They are: David M. Becker, JD; C. Ronald Kahn, MD; Richard J. Mahoney; Mike Peters; Gloria M. Steinem; and Donald M. Suggs, DDS. During the ceremony, which will begin at 8:30 a.m. in Brookings Quadrangle on the Danforth Campus, WUSTL also will bestow academic degrees on approximately 2,800 members of the Class of 2012.

A memorial for Burton M. Wheeler, PhD, will take place at 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 24, in Holmes Lounge, Ridgley Hall. A reception will follow. Wheeler, professor emeritus of English and of religious studies, both in Arts & Sciences, and a beloved teacher and former dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, died Friday, Feb. 17, at his home in Warson Woods, Mo., after a long battle with cancer. He was 84.

What is the Burrito Index? Can marriage impact cancer survival rates? Washington University in St. Louis students in social work and public health will explore these and many other topics at the Brown School’s inaugural Research Without Walls Student Research Symposium at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 19, in Brown and Goldfarb Halls on the Danforth Campus.

What is the American Dream’s role in today’s society? Experts from Washington University in St. Louis will explore this question in a panel discussion at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 18, in Brown Hall Lounge on the Danforth Campus. Panelists are Steven Fazzari, PhD, professor of economics in Arts & Sciences; Carter W. Lewis, playwright-in-residence in the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences; and Mark R. Rank, PhD, the Herbert S. Hadley Professor of Social Welfare at the Brown School.

WUSTL dedicated the 10th annual Relay for Life, a signature fundraising event for the American Cancer Society, to James E. McLeod, vice chancellor for students and dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, who died Sept. 5, 2011, after a two-year battle with the disease. Luminary candles — each bearing the name of an individual who has battled cancer — illuminated Bushyhead Track, and McLeod’s daughter, Sara, read the speech given by her father at last year’s opening ceremony.

The No. 17 men’s tennis team ran its winning streak to six matches with a 7-2 win at No. 30 University of Chicago April 15. The Bears improved their overall record to 12-5 and picked up their fifth win this season over a ranked team. Updates also included on baseball and softball, track & field, women’s golf and women’s tennis.

Junior Princeton Hynes is crowned Mr. Wash U out of 13 undergraduate candidates during the annual Mr. Wash U talent show April 5 in Edison Theatre. Princeton’s talent is the ability to recall any Oscar fact (nominees or winners in any category) since the awards first were presented in 1929. A six-member judging panel of faculty, staff and students made the final decision based on personality, character, talent and contribution to the WUSTL and St. Louis communities.