Newsroom Stories

Given ongoing agitation by a chorus of elected officials, the stage may be set for a major overhaul, if not outright abolishment of the nation’s largest home mortgage financing operations, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Radhakrishan Gopalan, who teaches finance at Olin Business School, tells Smart Money that the private market should be able meet home financing needs, in most cases.

“High-quality research is the lifeblood of a great research university,” says Olin Business School Dean Mahendra Gupta.  It’s also how faculty create knowledge, inspire their students and transform business.  Abstracts and links to the lastest research from Olin’s faculty have just been published.

Dancing classrooms, online philanthropy, a resale shop, produce market and programs to empower youth are among the projects in the final round of this year’s social entrepreneurship competition.  The YouthBridge SEIC competition will award $155,000 in April to the business plans with the most promise and solutions to help resolve social issues. 

The Eiffel Tower and other world-class icons viewable online via webcams are getting a new three-dimensional look thanks to an innovative, browser-based application recently unveiled by Austin Abrams, a Ph.D. candidate at Washington University in St. Louis.

Sports update for the week of Feb. 1

After two years of eager anticipation, the first occupants of the BJC Institute of Health at Washington University began moving in last week.

Washington University is making several improvements to ensure the safety of faculty, staff and students living in and visiting off-campus housing. These improvements range from physical changes — such as the addition of peepholes to doors — to informational measures — such as a safety video to ensure those living off-campus are familiar with best safety practices.

Robert Freling, executive director of the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF), will discuss his work at 5 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 4, in Graham Chapel. This Assembly Series program is being co-sponsored by Engineers Without Borders student organization, the Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurship, and the African Public Interest Law and Conflict Initiative.

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has received a five-year, $13 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to improve efforts to eliminate two parasitic diseases, elephantiasis and river blindness. The award is believed to be the largest global health grant so far to the University.

More than 230 guests at the School of Medicine’s Martin Luther King Jr. celebration Jan. 18 gathered to hear Johnnetta Cole, Ph.D., director of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, speak on diversity in the medical field.