Campus & Community

Julia Coric, a rising senior studying chemistry in WashU Arts & Sciences, has been selected as an Astronaut Scholar for the 2026-27 school year. She is among 79 students from 54 universities chosen for the prestigious award. 

Helen Davis, who worked for decades as leader of the Campus Y at Washington University in St. Louis, died May 21. She was 95.

Ravi Vij, MD, a national leader in the research and treatment of blood cancers, has been installed as the inaugural Jeffrey S. and Prue H. Gershman Distinguished Professor in the John T. Milliken Department of Medicine at WashU Medicine.

WashU Night at the Ballpark will be Aug. 30, when the Cardinals face the Pittsburgh Pirates. Each ticket will include a hot dog and soda at the game.

Julie Ritchey, research laboratory manager of the lab of John DiPersio, MD, in the John T. Milliken Department of Medicine at WashU Medicine, received the 2026 Gloria W. White Distinguished Service Award. For more than three decades, Richey has worked to advance research on stem cell therapies.

At the WashU Board of Trustees meeting May 1, a few faculty members were appointed, promoted or granted tenure.

Soobin Park, doctoral candidate at the WashU Brown School, will receive a $10,000 grant from the Horowitz Foundation for Social Policy to support her PhD dissertation project on “dementia care deserts.”

WashU Serves has released volunteer dates and locations for Service Saturdays through 2026. These community volunteer days are open to WashU faculty, staff, students, alumni and all other community members.

Images from on and around the WashU campuses.

WashU was ranked ninth among U.S. universities in the inaugural Cure Innovation Index, an assessment of how effectively institutions translate research advances into market-ready innovations. The index cited WashU’s biomedical research capabilities and support for commercialization and innovation, among other strengths.