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Ralph S. Quatrano, PhD, dean of the School of Engineering & Applied Science checks out the hand glider designed and built by Fort Zumwalt West students during the Boeing Engineering Challenge May 6 at the Athletic Complex. About 180 high school students from 10 area school districts launched hand gliders from the Field House balcony in a competition to determine which has the farthest flight, the straightest path, the longest hang time and highest quality of flight.

Akhila Narla, a junior in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, was among 135 students from across the country named a Newman Civic Fellow for 2011 by Campus Compact. The Newman Civic Fellows Awards recognize inspiring college student leaders who have demonstrated an investment in finding solutions for challenges facing communities throughout the country and the world.

The inaugural Lavender Recognition Ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, May 18, in College Hall in the South 40 House. Co-hosted by LGBT Student Involvement and Leadership and the Social Justice Center, the ceremony honors the achievements and contributions of graduating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer students and their allies.

Jennifer Hoefert always knew she wanted to spend her career helping people. It’s the “how” that changed. Hoefert, 26, a former deaf education specialist and second-grade teacher, will receive a post-baccalaureate certificate in premedical studies at Commencement May 20. The post-baccalaureate program in University College in Arts & Sciences helps adult students who lack an undergraduate background in the sciences earn the requirements needed for medical school.

Frank Yin, PhD (left), the Stephen F. and Camilla T. Brauer Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, presents Yunfei Shi, a PhD student in biomedical engineering, with the grand prize in a Tsinghua University Alumni Photo Contest during a Tsinghua Centenary Celebration, held April 30 in Whitaker Auditorium at Washington University.

WUSTL’s first all-campus food drive set a cash donation record and collected nearly 3 tons of food, much of which will go to the 135,000 St. Louis-area children at risk for hunger this summer. “This amount from the Washington University PB&Joy Food Drive was the second-largest amount collected in the virtual food drive’s five-year history,” says Gary Wells, Operation Food Search general manger.

Washington University’s renowned Genome Center has been renamed the Washington University Genome Institute. With the name change comes a new focus on multi-disciplinary, genome-based investigations to uncover the genetic underpinnings of human diseases. 

Since childhood, Lucy Gellman has been entranced by the world around her. She brought that natural curiosity, and a deep sense of learning through the visual, with her to WUSTL. She already has made a significant impact in art historical research and as a leader both on campus and in the St. Louis community, and now Gellman, Outstanding Graduate in the College of Arts & Sciences, is ready to take what she’s learned and begin to carve out a life and career of impact and meaning.

Mahendra Gupta, PhD, dean of Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis, will host a roundtable discussion May 9 with business leaders, as well as a contingent from Shanghai, on opportunities for increased two-way trade and investment between Shanghai and the central United States and actions to help grow those relationships. Members of the media are invited to attend a reception following the roundtable where participants will be available to answer questions.

Samantha Swanson, a senior majoring in music in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, performs with accompaniment on the theorbo by Jeffrey J. Noonan, PhD, teacher of applied music in the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences, during the Spring 2011 Undergraduate Research Symposium April 30 at Whitaker and Brauer halls. More than 170 undergraduate students showcased their research projects through poster presentations and visual and oral presentations during the event sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Research.