Washington Magazine

What does it take to start a paper chemical processing company in China in the early 1980s? As Peter Young, BSChE ’80, found out, a lot of perseverance, hard work, and a bit of luck.

While his Japanese-American family was interned in California during World War II, Gyo Obata, one of the world’s leading architects, found a welcoming place to learn and thrive at Washington University.

Documentary filmmaker and The Daily Show senior producer Sara Taksler’s, AB ’01, latest film, Tickling Giants, is about how political satire shook the halls of power in Egypt after the Arab Spring.

Mentorship is a key aspect of any robust startup community. Here, Cliff Holekamp, who was selected by Small Business Monthly as one of the area’s best mentors, shares tips on how to be a good mentor and why entrepreneurs need to build a network of advisers.

Andrew McCabe, JD ’93, was always interested in criminal law but an internship he had while a law student at WashU convinced him to become an FBI agent. After a long career that’s including busting up crime rings and fighting terrorists, he’s been named deputy director of one of the nation’s top security organizations.

When Louisa Rechter, AB ’09, and Alessandra Perez-Rubio, BFA ’09, couldn’t find designer, black-tie attire at a price point they could afford, they decided to create their own line. Mestiza New York, a fashion line blends Filipino and American style, is the happy result.

Poet Phillip B. Williams, a 2014 graduate of The Writing Program in Arts & Sciences, is among 10 recipients of the 2017 Whiting Award.

Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, is expanding our understanding of human health into nonhuman realms, studying the bacteria that take up residence in the gut and help define who we become. Indeed, this research suggests you are what you — and your microbes — eat.

Jeff Gordon’s influence in the race to understand the human gut microbiome extends to the many students he has mentored at the Washington University School of Medicine. Here is a small sampling of his former students and postdocs, and where they are now.

At the Gary M. Sumers Recreation Center, the university encourages healthy living through ­ state-of-the-art fitness and recreation facilities.