Newsroom Stories

The Graduate Student Senate (GSS) honored seven faculty members with Outstanding Faculty Mentor Awards for their dedication to graduate students and commitment to excellence in graduate training. Special recognition for excellence in mentoring went to 14 other faculty members during GSS’ 11th annual awards ceremony and reception, held April 14 in the Danforth University Center.

More than 80,000 people are expected to attend the annual Thurtene Carnival Friday through Sunday, April 23-25. The event, which features carnival rides, games, food, theater, dance and music, is the oldest and largest student-run carnival in the United States.

More than 200 people participated in the Take Steps for Kids 5k run/walk April 17 to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters. Hosted by the Wash U Undergraduate Running Club, the race began and ended in Brookings Quadrangle. All proceeds from the race were donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri.

Sports updates for the week of April 19

Washington University in St. Louis School of Law celebrated the outstanding achievements of six individuals at the annual Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner April 9 in the Crowder Courtyard of Anheuser-Busch Hall.

“The retirement announcement of Justice John Paul Stevens does not come as a big surprise, but it is still a sad day,” says Gregory P. Magarian, JD, former Stevens clerk and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “The Supreme Court is losing a great jurist and a great man.” Magarian calls Stevens a “pragmatic populist” because of the way he approached his decisions with the court. “Stevens always has been very focused on what a Supreme Court decision is going to do to an ordinary person,” he says. “He’s never written an opinion just to make a point or put on a show.” 

Barry Sleckman, MD, PhD, was a busy young entrepreneur and disaffected commuter college student when his life began taking a sudden series of unexpected turns in the late 1970s.

The WUSTL Energy Awareness Committee is offering faculty, staff and students the opportunity to celebrate Earth Day with a volunteer event at Tyson Research Center from 9-11 a.m. Saturday, April 24. Volunteers will be asked to assist with the restoration of a glade, a native habitat in Missouri, at Tyson.

Ryan Anderson, a second-year medical student and president of the class, was one of 30 medical students nationwide to receive the American Medical Association Foundation’s 2010 Leadership Award. The award provides medical students, residents, fellows and early-career physicians with special training to develop their skills as future leaders in organized medicine and community affairs. … […]

Organisms from yeast to rodents to humans all benefit from cutting calories. In less complex organisms, restricting calories can double or even triple lifespan. But researchers at Washington University School of Medicine and two other centers report in the journal Science that they are less interested in calorie restriction for longer life than for its ability to promote good health throughout life.