Campus & Community

Washington University celebrated its160th Commencement not once, but eight times on May 20 and May 21. The Record kept a diary of the days’ sights and stories, including three alumni who competed on Francis Field and returned there to watch their children graduate; five Olin student-athletes on their way to NCAA Division III baseball championships; and one very elated chancellor thrilled to lead his first in-person Commencement.

At the 160th Commencement, one like no other in university history, NBA great and social justice advocate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar told the Class of 2021 to write their own story — but to make sure it went beyond themselves.

Miguel Valerio, assistant professor of Spanish in Arts & Sciences, has won a 2021–22 Career Enhancement Fellowship from the Institute for Citizens & Scholars.

Jennie H. Kwon, DO, assistant professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine, has been named the vice chair for the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America Research Committee.

An unprecedented academic year coming to a close brings an unprecedented Commencement for graduating students this week. To allow for in-person ceremonies, the traditional universitywide ceremony in Brookings Quadrangle will be broken up into eight ceremonies over the next two days, May 20 and 21, on Francis Olympic Field.

Laura Escobar Vega, assistant professor of mathematics and statistics in Arts & Sciences, shows students and young professionals new ways to connect with math and see themselves in the field.

Cynthia Cryder, associate professor of marketing at Olin Business School, was named one of Poets & Quants’ “Best 40 Under 40” professors of 2021.

Senior Class President Michelle Wang says her classmates share a deeper sense of empathy, one they earned the hard way.

The Clinical Research Forum, a nonprofit association of top clinical research experts from the nation’s leading academic health centers, has awarded an international interdisciplinary team led by Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, a Distinguished Clinical Research Achievement Award for his study “Integrating Global Health with the Microbiome.”

Two psychological and brain sciences students in Arts & Sciences received Research Excellence Awards from the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences.