Newsroom Stories

The largest award pool for social entrepreneurship in the U.S. was split five ways on April 23, 2009 when winners of the Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition were announced at Washington University in St. Louis. The five finalists were chosen from an original field of 42 entrants and represent diverse ventures with missions to provide educational and cultural and vocational training.

School of Medicine clinical faculty and staff recently collected more than 1,500 medical textbooks to be donated to the Lui Hospital in Sudan, located in the war zone of southern Sudan. The staff who work there rely on outdated medical references, some dating back to the 1930s.

In keeping with Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton’s commitment to financial and environmental sustainability, the University has decided to shut down the main steam plant on the Danforth Campus on Monday, April 27, three weeks earlier than usual.

Benjamin F. Edwards III, Washington University trustee emeritus and former chairman, chief executive officer and president of A.G. Edwards Inc., died Monday, April 20, 2009, from prostate cancer. He was 77.

Twenty WUSTL schools, academic areas and departments at the graduate and professional levels currently hold top 10 rankings in U.S. News & World Report’s rankings of graduate and professional programs, which were released April 23.

A handsome prince, a distant land, a damsel in distress. Yet in the world of The Magic Flute, little is as it seems. Next week the Washington University Opera will present an abridged version of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s (1756-91) beloved classic in Karl Umrath Hall.

The School of Medicine remains No. 3 among research-oriented medical schools, according to the 2010 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Graduate Schools.” The rankings appear in the April 28 issue of the magazine and in an annual guidebook.

The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts will honor six outstanding architecture and art alumni at its second annual Awards for Distinction dinner April 23. Recipients will include Ralph Cunningham (BA 1983), Ann Fertig Freedman (BFA 1971), Tom Friedman (BFA 1988) and Harry C. Kendall (BA 1978). In addition, Sara Velas (BFA 1999) will receive the 2009 Young Alumni Award. Judy Pfaff (FA71) will receive the Dean’s Medal for distinguished service to the school.

Five finalists are vying for $150,000 — the largest social entrepreneurship award pool in the U.S. — tonight at Washington University in St. Louis. Winners of the Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition (SEIC) will be announced at 5p.m. in May Auditorium, Simon Hall, on the Danforth Campus. More than 40 non-profit ventures entered the competition last fall — all are dedicated to creating social enterprises that boost the regional economy by creating jobs and in many cases reducing government costs for social programs. A Q & A session with reknowned Pittsburgh-based social entrepreneur BIll Strickland will kick-off the event.

Photo by Robert BostonEmployees tried out a bicycle at the Bear Bikers booth at the School of Medicine’s Health Happening ’09 health fair April 9-10.