Author: Leslie Gibson McCarthy

Jennifer Hoefert always knew she wanted to spend her career helping people. It’s the “how” that changed. Hoefert, 26, a former deaf education specialist and second-grade teacher, will receive a post-baccalaureate certificate in premedical studies at Commencement May 20. The post-baccalaureate program in University College in Arts & Sciences helps adult students who lack an undergraduate background in the sciences earn the requirements needed for medical school.

Frank Yin, PhD (left), the Stephen F. and Camilla T. Brauer Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, presents Yunfei Shi, a PhD student in biomedical engineering, with the grand prize in a Tsinghua University Alumni Photo Contest during a Tsinghua Centenary Celebration, held April 30 in Whitaker Auditorium at Washington University.

Jeryl Hayes, Outstanding Graduate in the School of Law, learned at an early age to speak up for her gender, and now she intends to devote her legal career to women’s issues. “Jeryl is passionate, quick, kind, organized, diligent and wholly committed to engagement with issues of power and privilege,” says Laura Rosenbury, JD, professor of law and associate dean for research and faculty development.

Samantha Swanson, a senior majoring in music in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, performs with accompaniment on the theorbo by Jeffrey J. Noonan, PhD, teacher of applied music in the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences, during the Spring 2011 Undergraduate Research Symposium April 30 at Whitaker and Brauer halls. More than 170 undergraduate students showcased their research projects through poster presentations and visual and oral presentations during the event sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Research.

Since childhood, Lucy Gellman has been entranced by the world around her. She brought that natural curiosity, and a deep sense of learning through the visual, with her to WUSTL. She already has made a significant impact in art historical research and as a leader both on campus and in the St. Louis community, and now Gellman, Outstanding Graduate in the College of Arts & Sciences, is ready to take what she’s learned and begin to carve out a life and career of impact and meaning.

Sports updates for the week of May 9, 2011.

Sarah Fern, Outstanding Graduate in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, will graduate with honors in systems science and engineering May 20 and already has secured a job as a business technology analyst. But she also plays piano, and, is “as talented as many students that you’ll find at a conservatory,” says Seth Carlin, professor of music, director of the piano program in the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences and Fern’s piano teacher. 

At its spring meeting May 6, the Board of Trustees elected six new members to the board and elected officers, among other actions, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. The six electees are John D. Beuerlein, general partner of Edward Jones; Thomas J. Hillman, founder and managing partner of FTL Capital Partners LLC; Sanford C. Loewentheil, vice chairman of L+M Development Partners; Scott Rudolph, chairman of the board of NBTY Inc.; Gary M. Sumers, senior managing director of Blackstone Group; and Joyce F. Wood, owner of Wood & Associates Management Co.

Steven Perlberg, a sophomore in Arts & Sciences, and other students from the “Just Do It! Turning Your Passion into Policy” class at Washington University answer questions from John Hancock, former head of the Missouri Republican Party in the St. Louis County Council Chambers in Clayton, Mo., May 2. The students offered mock testimony on a range of issues from puppy mills to local control of the city police force to a group of civic leaders posing as a committee of the Missouri Senate.

Jessica Davie, one of the Record’s three Outstanding Graduates in the College of Arts & Sciences, took her experiences as an inner-city high school student and began a program called Learning to Live at WUSTL. She graduates May 20 with a degree in educational studies with a minor in drama from the College of Arts & Sciences, but the Learning to Live program endures.