Campus & Community

Abram Van Engen, chair of the Department of English in Arts & Sciences, has been named the next director of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics. Van Engen has published widely on religion and literature.

Carmon Colangelo, the Ralph J. Nagel Dean of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, will conclude his deanship effective June 30, 2026. Colangelo will continue to serve as WashU’s E. Desmond Lee Professor for Collaboration in the Arts. He will return to teaching, after a yearlong sabbatical, in fall 2027.

Leila Sadat, the James Carr Professor of International Criminal Law, has been awarded the American Society of International Law’s 2025 Goler T. Butcher Medal.

WashU senior Elijah Darden, in Arts & Sciences, has been selected for the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship, which fully funds postgraduate study and research at the University of Cambridge. There, he plans to earn a master’s in population health sciences.

Mark Valeri, director of WashU’s John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, received the American Society of Church History’s annual award for best book on Christianity’s history by a North American scholar.

Dwight A. McBride has been installed as the inaugural Gerald Early Distinguished Professor of African & African American Studies in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. A lecture and reception to celebrate his appointment were held Dec. 10 in Holmes Lounge.

Images from on and around the WashU campuses.

Student group Silly Squared takes the lighthearted creativity of stickers and turns them into a meaningful platform for WashU students to share their artwork. Every week, the group prints thousands of stickers and hands them out to students for free.

The Rev. Callista Isabelle, WashU’s inaugural director for religious, spiritual and ethical life, will receive the Zenobia Hikes Memorial Award from NASPA, the nation’s leading organization for student affairs administrators, at its annual conference in New Orleans in March. 

WashU’s School of Continuing & Professional Studies is launching a new program that prepares adult learners for high-demand jobs in medical and research laboratories.  Grants are available to cover the full cost of tuition for eligible students.