Campus & Community

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released a report last week from an advisory group on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. Barbara A. Schaal, PhD, dean of the faculty of Arts & Sciences, chaired the advisory group that was tasked with creating a strategic vision and guide NAS’ Gulf Research Program.

As part of Washington University Libraries’ ongoing commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer, the Washington University Film & Media Archive will host a Q&A with actor Richard Beymer and a free screening of his film, “A Regular Bouquet.” The event takes place at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 23, at Steinberg Auditorium on the Danforth Campus.

A search committee to identify candidates for the position of vice chancellor for students has been appointed by H. Holden Thorp, PhD, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs. Sharon Stahl, PhD, announced last week that she is retiring as vice chancellor at the end of the academic year, June 30.

Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, has won the 2014 Dickson Prize in Medicine for his pioneering studies demonstrating how the tens of trillions of microbes that live in the gut influence human health.

Joni Westerhouse, a longtime veteran in public affairs at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named associate vice chancellor and associate dean for Medical Public Affairs.

Faculty, staff and students are invited to celebrate the grand opening of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion at Washington University in St. Louis from 4-5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 23, in Olin Library, Room 202. Attendees will be able to tour the space and meet with center staff and advisory board members.

Iver Bernstein, PhD, director of American Culture Studies in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, discusses this fall’s Modern Segregation lecture/workshop series in the context of recent events in Ferguson, Mo., and the “urgent need for the university to be a university.”

​​The community is invited to submit photos, videos, stories and other content to a digital archive at Washington University Libraries called “Documenting Ferguson.” Free and accessible to all, the online collection will serve as a lasting source of information regarding the Aug. 9 death of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and the ensuing protests and unrest.​

Felicia Ausbury, senior associate director in Alumni Relations at Washington University in St. Louis, died Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2014, at her home in St. Charles, Mo., after battling cancer for more than a year. She was 42.

Michael S. Kinch, PhD, joins Washington University in St. Louis as associate vice chancellor and director of the university’s new Center for Research Innovation in Business. H. Holden Thorp, PhD, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, made the announcement.