Campus & Community

WashU has been named to the National Academy of Inventors’ Top 100 Worldwide Universities granted U.S. utility patents in 2025. The university is ranked 49 on the list, with 70 total patents.

Washington University in St. Louis and University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy announced they have entered into an agreement whereby WashU will assume control of UHSP. UHSP’s central program, the Doctor of Pharmacy, will become WashU’s 10th academic school, to be known as WashU St. Louis College of Pharmacy.

Donald Royse, a professor emeritus of architecture in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, died Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, surrounded by family at his home (which he designed) overlooking Lake Washington in Seattle. He was 93.

Denise M.S. Willers, MD, a clinician renowned for patient-centered care and academic excellence, has been named the new director of the WashU Medicine Division of Academic Specialists in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Images from on and around the WashU campuses.

Employee Appreciation Week runs March 2-6 and will include giveaways as well as special discounts offered by businesses around St. Louis.

WashU sophomore Courtney Lucas II has been selected by the Institute for Responsible Citizenship for its Washington Program, a selective, two-summer program for talented Black male college students.

Kathleen Finneran, senior writer-in-residence in the Department of English in Arts & Sciences, and author of the celebrated memoir “The Tender Land: A Family Love Story” (2000), died Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. She was 68.

In recognition of its work to address complex global challenges and support international students and scholars, Washington University in St. Louis is a 2026 recipient of the Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization from NAFSA: Association of International Educators. 

WashU came in at No. 14 on Forbes’ annual list of America’s Best Large Employers 2026.