Humanities & Society

Three-time class president Varun Mehrotra says his Commencement speech will celebrate the friendships that will forever connect graduates to each other and to Washington University in St. Louis. He says the university has provided him a range of challenging and thrilling experiences, including the chance to throw out the first pitch at Tuesday’s Cardinals game at Busch Stadium.

In an effort to study causes and find solutions, Washington University in St. Louis faculty from across disciplines are examining economic insecurity through the university’s Livable Lives Initiative. One of the products of this interdisciplinary collaboration is a new book, “Working and Living in the Shadow of Economic Fragility.”

Washington University’s 153rd Commencement is at 8:30 a.m. Friday, May 16, in Brookings Quadrangle on the Danforth Campus. The university will award 3,030 degrees to 2,899 undergraduate, graduate and professional students. Baseball Hall of Famer Tony La Russa will deliver the 2014 Commencement address and receive an honorary degree.

Richard J. Smith, PhD, dean of the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, presented the school’s Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence to 17 teaching assistants for exemplary performance. Stacy Davis, a fifth-year PhD candidate in Spanish, was among those recognized during an April 24 ceremony.

Three biomedical engineering seniors at WUSTL are gaining national attention for the robotic prosthetic arm they developed for a 13-year-old St. Louis girl. Built on a 3-D printer, the arm  is cheap, functional — and pink.

Four students in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis have won important honors and fellowships this spring. They include the Carnegie Junior Fellowship, the Beinecke Scholarship, the Newman Civic Fellows Award and the Gates Cambridge Scholarship.

Chanelle Hardy, JD, a senior executive with the National Urban League, will be keynote speaker at the For the Sake of All Community Conference that begins at 8 a.m. Friday, May 30, at the Missouri History Museum. At the conference — the culmination of a yearlong, groundbreaking study of African-American health and well-being in the St. Louis region — researchers will issue a final report along with policy recommendations for the region. The conference is free and open to the public, but seating is limited, and registration is required.

The International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES) has announced the award winners from its 2014 call for proposals.

Kevin Crouch, a senior in Arts & Sciences, reads to a Holman Elementary class during “On the Move: Encouraging Literacy,” a service project by Washington University in St. Louis’ Kappa Delta Pi chapter. Students in KDP, the international honor society in education, recently donated and delivered more than 330 books to Holman students and teachers.

At its spring meeting May 2, the Board of Trustees at Washington University in St. Louis elected two new members as well as the 2014-15 officers, among other actions, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. The two new board members elected for four-year terms are Todd M. Bluedorn, chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Lennox International Inc., and Michael F. Powell, PhD, general partner of Sofinnova Ventures.