Author: Leslie Gibson McCarthy

Following the Sept. 6 death of James E. McLeod, vice chancellor for students and dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton has announced a transitional leadership plan for the College of Arts & Sciences. Sharon Stahl, PhD, associate vice chancellor for students and dean of the First Year Center, and Wayne Fields, PhD, the Lynne Cooper Harvey Distinguished Professor of English in Arts & Sciences, have agreed to take on the additional responsibilities of leading the College of Arts & Sciences on an interim basis.

It was an historic afternoon for the No. 2 volleyball team as the Bears picked up a 3-0 victory over New York University at the first University Athletic Association (UAA) round robin of the season at the Washington University Field House Oct. 2. Updates also available on men’s and women’s socer, women’s tennis, cross country and swimming and diving.

Washington University in St. Louis will host a university-wide Public Service Fair at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5, in College Hall on the South 40. The event features more than 30 nonprofit organizations offering a variety of community service and internship opportunities.

In this centennial year of Williams’ birth, and the 75th anniversary of his matriculation at WUSTL, Tennessee Williams’ literary legacy will be the subject of an Assembly Series lecture by Henry I. Schvey, PhD, professor of drama and comparative literature in Arts & Sciences. Schvey’s presentation, “Tennessee Williams at 100: From Washington University to the Wider World” will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6 in Steinberg Hall Auditorium.

Washington University in St. Louis, along with two other organizations, is getting behind BioSTL (evolved from the Coalition for Plant and Life Sciences), a new regional organization to champion St. Louis bioscience. The university, BJC HealthCare, and the St. Louis Life Sciences Project have each committed $2 million per year for five years to the venture, for a combined total of $30 million. The announcement of the funding, which will forward bioscience company creation and drive economic growth in St. Louis, was made Sept. 27.

The Washington University Students for International Collaboration on the Environment (WUSICE) recently was granted the opportunity send the first WUSTL delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP17). The group is in the process of building an effective interdisciplinary delegation of undergraduate and graduate students. WUSICE is seeking students from a variety of backgrounds who have an interest in international environmental negotiations. Deadline is Thursday, Sept. 29. 

Maxine Lipeles, JD, co-director of the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic, participates in “speed mentoring” sessions with law students at Washington University School of Law during Women’s Law Day Sept. 21 in Crowder Courtyard of Anheuser-Busch Hall.

The No. 4 men’s soccer team saw its seven-game winning streak to start the season come to an end with a 3-1 loss at No. 15 Dominican University Sept. 25 in River Forest, Ill. Updates also on football, men’s tennis, women’s golf, women’s soccer and cross country.

At its fall meeting Sept. 23, the Board of Trustees heard a number of presentations by top university officials, including a report on the Washington University endowment by Kimberly G. Walker, chief investment officer; a student housing and off-campus development planning update from Executive Vice Chancellor Henry S. Webber; and a presentation on the new Preston M. Green Hall by Ralph S. Quatrano, PhD, dean of the School of Engineering & Applied Science and the Spencer T. Olin Professor.

The Gephardt Institute for Public Service at Washington University in St. Louis has selected seven juniors for the inaugural cohort of the Civic Scholars Program. Civic Scholars will enroll in two years of academic course work related to civic leadership and receive mentorship to prepare them for a life dedicated to public service.