Campus & Community

NASA and the European Space Agency chose Ryan Ogliore and Kun Wang, both in Arts & Sciences, for the Mars Sample Return Measurement Definition Team. This group will help realize the science potential of the first samples ever to be returned from another planet.

Stanley Paul Hmiel, MD, PhD, a pediatric nephrologist at the School of Medicine, died surrounded by family Aug. 28 at a hospice in Creve Coeur, Mo., after a three-year struggle with colon cancer. He was 64.

Members of the WashU community may nominate honorary degree candidates for the May 2025 Commencement. The deadline is Sept. 25.

Now in its 51st year, the Great Forest Park Balloon Glow and Race is a favorite St. Louis tradition. This year, WashU is sponsoring a balloon and the festival’s main stage. Students also have a chance to win a ride in WashU’s balloon.

Images from on and around the Washington University campuses.

WashU is the newest member of the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities. The group provides faculty, students and staff with benefits including an online journal, networking opportunities and more.

Gaya Amarasinghe, the Alumni Endowed Professor of pathology and immunology at the School of Medicine, received a five-year $16.8 million grant renewal from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for Ebola virus research.

Everyone wants to meet Bear and Brookie, the new comfort dogs of WUPD.

The Class of 2027 celebrated Convocation Aug. 26 in Brookings Quadrangle, heard from WashU leaders and then enjoyed Party at the Park, to kick off the academic year.

Neuroscientist Steven Mennerick, the John P. Feighner Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology at the School of Medicine, has been named director and associate dean of the Roy and Diana Vagelos Division of Biology & Biomedical Sciences.