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Marion G. Crain, JD, the Wiley B. Rutledge Professor of Law and a Faculty Fellow in the Office of the Provost at Washington University in St. Louis, has been named vice provost, announced Edward S. Macias, PhD, provost, executive vice chancellor for academic affairs and the Barbara and David Thomas Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences.

This year, for the first time, a free Student Services Professional Development Conference is being offered to the entire WUSTL staff. The response to past conferences has been overwhelmingly positive, and topics have broad appeal. Breakout sessions will focus on local, national and international university initiatives. The conference is Thursday, May 24.

The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates is the 2012-13 selection for the First Year Reading Program. The book focuses on two men with the same name who grew up in similar Baltimore neighborhoods, but ended up on much different paths. One is a convicted murderer serving a life sentence; the other is a decorated veteran and Rhodes Scholar. The book provides a shared intellectual experience for incoming students.

Adrian “Addie” Smith, the Record‘s Outstanding Graduate from the School of Law, has spent much of her life searching for just the right spot to focus her enthusiasm on building a brighter future for disadvantaged children. And she appears to have found it. After graduation May 18, she will become a lobbyist for Native American children.

The Knight Center courtyard was the venue for the wedding of Kelly Ayers and Eric Patterson April 27. The couple, whose 8-year-old daughter was diagnosed at birth with a rare genetic disorder, wasgiven a “gifted wedding,” for which 35 local vendors — including Olin Business School’s Knight Center — donated time, talents and products.

Akhila Narla will be among WUSTL’s inaugural class of environmental biology graduates when she received her degree May. 18. Narla, one of the Record’s Outstanding Graduates from the College of Arts & Sciences, plans to seek her medical degree but first will spend two years on a Navajo reservation teaching high school students science and health through the Teach for America program.

WUSTL diners can toss a used napkin and food scraps into a campus compost bin, and 4-6 months later, their trash might be feeding the tulips in front of Brookings Hall. With the help of the WUSTL community, WUSTL Dining Services and the Office of Sustainability are working to turn more food scraps and trash into fertilizer through composting.

The university’s  ‘Alma Mater’ is now played at noon weekdays from Graham Chapel, thanks to the efforts of rising sophomore Michael Byrne. This is just the first step in a plan to create a stronger sense of tradition on campus. Come graduation time, Byrne wants the song to resonate with the Class of 2015.

Mara MacMahon, who graduates May 18 with a bachelor’s of arts in biology in Arts & Sciences and of fine arts in communication design, continues a tradition that dates back to the Renaissance of seeking lifelike portrayals of the human body. But she goes way beyond the Renaissance masters, and is the Record’s Outstanding Graduate in Art from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts.

The College of Arts and University Libraries hosted the 15th annual open house of the Nancy Spirtas Kranzberg Studio for the Illustrated Book May 1 in Walker Hall. During the open house, students display their work from the academic year and compete for the Nancy Award, which recognizes outstanding student achievement in book design.