Announcements

A section of Throop Drive that runs in front of the Knight Center and Eliot Hall will close for construction beginning Thursday, Dec. 22. That stretch of Throop Drive will reopen Tuesday, Jan. 17. Also closing Dec. 22 are three levels Millbrook Garage’s southwest section that face the Knight Center and Eliot Hall. The three levels are slated for demolition and will not reopen. Both closings are in preparation for the construction of two new buildings for Olin Business School.

The annual Neureuther book collection essay contest sponsored by Washington University Libraries offers four cash prizes to students who submit short essays about their personal book collections. Any full-time WUSTL undergraduate and graduate student who has a passion for collecting books can compete in the Neureuther Student Book Collection Essay Competition, which offers first- and second-place prizes of $1,000 and $500.

At recent Board of Trustees meetings, the following faculty members were appointed with tenure or promoted with tenure: Randall J. Bateman, MD; Paul W. Hruz, MD, PhD; Catherine E. Lang, PhD; David Rudnick, MD, PhD; Sheila Stewart-Wigglesworth, PhD; Brad A. Racette, MD; and Chengjie Xiong, PhD.

The Bear Necessities store, located in Umrath House on the South 40, will hold its annual holiday sale Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 13 and 14. The store will offer 15 percent off its entire stock of regular-priced WUSTL logo items and an additional 15 percent off already marked-down prices on all clearance items. The sale will be held from 9:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Dec. 13 and from 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Dec. 14.

The Washington University Police Department and Parking Services, in partnership with Hartmann’s Towing, once again will sponsor a free Traveler’s Vehicle Inspection service to WUSTL students, faculty and staff from noon-2:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10. Persons anticipating traveling by car for winter break can bring their vehicle to the lower level of Millbrook Garage in the early afternoon for a free inspection.

Most WUSTL faculty members teach a variety of courses to both graduate and undergraduate students but can have limited opportunities to discuss teaching with colleagues outside of their department. WUSTL offers i teach, its biennial symposium on teaching, to provide such an opportunity. The 2012 i teach symposium will take place Thursday, Jan. 12, from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at Seigle Hall on the Danforth Campus. It is free and open to all WUSTL faculty members.

At the December meeting of the Washington University Board of Trustees Dec. 1 and 2, trustees discussed the university’s innovation and entrepreneurial focus and programs, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. The board also elected a new trustee. Robert W. Frick, former vice chairman of the board of Bank of America and currently actively involved with young entrepreneurial companies in the San Francisco Bay Area, was elected as a new Ethan A.H. Shepley Trustee for a four-year term ending December 2015.

Nominations now are being accepted for the annual Gerry & Bob Virgil Ethic of Service Award, which honors members of the WUSTL community who exemplify a character of service and giving to the St. Louis region. The deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. Feb. 3.

WUSTL senior Ashley D. Brosius and Fidel Desir, a 2010 graduate of WUSTL, were finalists for Rhodes Scholarships. Brosius and Desir were among 210 finalists from across the United States for the scholarship for graduate study at the University of Oxford in England. Rhodes Scholars are selected on the basis of their undergraduate academic achievements, personal integrity, leadership potential and physical vigor.

The following are among the new faculty members at Washington University: Joseph Cullen, PhD; Amr Farahat, PhD; Exequiel Hernández, PhD; Baojun Jiang, PhD; Ping C. Lieser, PhD; Asaf Manela, PhD; Matthew Ringgenberg, PhD; and Adina Sterling, PhD. Others will be introduced periodically.