Campus & Community

No one could have foreseen a fall without football when Aaron Keen was named head coach last January. But the 1994 WashU graduate is tackling the challenge of his first season head on, with resiliency and a positive mental attitude learned under his friend and mentor, Larry Kindbom.

The 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded Oct. 5 to three scientists for groundbreaking research that led to the discovery of the hepatitis C virus. One of those scientists — virologist Charles M. Rice — conducted his seminal work while on the faculty of Washington University School of Medicine.

Jennifer R. Smith, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has been named to the new position of vice provost for educational initiatives, announced Beverly R. Wendland, provost and executive vice chancellor.

The Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity at Washington University in St. Louis has debuted this fall with programs to support and amplify field-defining research, nurture the next generation of scholars and build partnerships in the St. Louis region. The work could not be more urgent, said its founding director, Adrienne Davis, who is also vice provost and the William M. Van Cleve Professor of Law. 

Washington University in St. Louis’ Equity and Inclusion Council is moving forward with 42 newly appointed members, who will attend a kickoff meeting Oct. 7.

Brendan Juba at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis will take a close look at relationships and generalization in artificial intelligence with a National Science Foundation CAREER award.

The Washington University in St. Louis community is invited to gather together virtually at noon Thursday, Oct. 8, for “Reflections: Remember & Recommit,” an event that will provide a space for grief and hope during this extraordinary time.

Craig A. Buchman, MD, the Lindburg Professor and head of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery at the School of Medicine, has been elected president of the American Neurotology Society, an organization of specialists in the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the inner ear and skull base.

Photographer Jess T. Dugan will serve as the 2020-21 Henry L. and Natalie E. Freund Teaching Fellow at Washington University in St. Louis. The fellowship, which is jointly sponsored by the Saint Louis Art Museum and the university’s Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, is designed to promote the creation and exhibition of contemporary art as well as the teaching of contemporary art principles.

Washington University has begun a process to examine public safety and policing on the Danforth Campus and in nearby neighborhoods. As an important first step, a committee comprising students, faculty, staff and alumni has been formed to lead this critical work.