Washington Magazine

Washington University held its 151st Commencement Fri., May 18. As the morning sun shone brightly on Brookings Quadrangle, the ceremony was one to remember.

The university’s Hope Center for ­Neurological Disorders collaborated with Michael Eastman, a contemporary photographic artist, for Where Art Meets Science.

Richard Mahoney’s life mirrors a piece of powerful advice his father bestowed on him while he was growing up in Springfield, Mass. Mahoney recalls: “He told me, ‘Richard, the first third of your life — learn. The second third — earn, and the last third you return.’”

Outside of Miami, Greater Boston boasts one of the largest Haitian-American populations in the United States. When local community leaders told Boston attorney Vikas S. Dhar, AB ’99, of Haiti’s sexual violence and trafficking issues, his law firm took action.

For Jenny Murphy, BFA ’09, developing an entry for a sculpture competition — a rite of passage for students at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts — helped define her future as an entrepreneur and ­community arts leader.

Making history interesting to teenagers is a daily challenge for Eric Cochran, AB ’98, chair of the social studies department at Lindbergh High School in St. Louis County.

Although now an Emmy- and Peabody-winner, sports television producer Michael Hughes, BSBA ’01, got his start on a much smaller stage. While a student at Washington ­University, he hosted and filmed bits for What’s Up, WashU?, a low-budget show for on-campus station WUTV. Initially recruited by a fellow member of the football team because he was “loud […]

Alumna Jazzy Danziger, AB ’07, received the 2012 ­ Brittingham Prize in Poetry for her book, Darkroom (University of Wisconsin Press, 2012).

Tom and Colleen Ferguson, co-chairs of the WU Club of San Francisco Young Professionals Group, discuss the enjoyment they get from volunteering.

Burton M. Wheeler, professor emeritus of English and of religious studies and former dean of the College of Arts & ­Sciences, died Feb. 17, 2012.