Newsroom Stories

Scientists who first established a link between obesity and the trillions of friendly microbes that live in the intestine now are investigating whether the organisms can contribute to the converse: severe malnutrition. Researchers at the School of Medicine, led by microbiologist Jeffrey Gordon, M.D., will study whether severely malnourished infants living in Malawi and Bangladesh have a different mix of intestinal microbes than healthy infants in the same areas, and whether those microbes might account for their illness. This three-year, $5.5 million project is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The following incidents were reported to University Police March 25-31. Readers with information that could assist in investigating these incidents are urged to call 935-5555. This information is provided as a public service to promote safety awareness and is available on the University Police Web site at police.wustl.edu. March 25 11:55 a.m. — A student […]

The No. 2 men’s tennis team extended its winning streak to six with an 8-1 victory over Grinnell College March 29 at the Tao Tennis Center. The victory was WUSTL’s 23rd straight at home dating back to the 2006-07 season and its 40th in the past 41 home court matches. The Bears are 66-6 (.917) […]

Professors ranked among the most prolific writers don’t need to worry about the ‘publish or perish’ warnings in academia. Four business professors at the Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis, are ranked among the most frequently published authors in the field of finance according to a new study. The data collected over the past 50 years suggests that getting published in the top journals is difficult and getting published more than once is an achievement attained by a small minority.

Stanford classics professor Richard Martin discusses Homeric poetry as a performance art in Ancient Greece, comparing it to modern rap, in the annual Assembly Series Biggs lecture at 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 9 in Steinberg Hall.

David Kilper/WUSTL Photo ServicesPutting a new spin on an old technique, Anne M. Hofmeister, Ph.D., research professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has revolutionized scientists’ understanding of heat transport in the Earth’s crust, the outermost solid shell of our planet.

Three prominent writers will examine “African American Literature Today” at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 15, in Hurst Lounge. The discussion — sponsored by the African & African-American Studies Program and by the Center for the Humanities, both in Arts & Sciences — will focus on a pair of new anthologies, Best African American Essays 2009 and Best African American Fiction 2009, both published by Bantam Books.

Wendy Kopp, founder and chief executive officer of Teach For America, has been selected to give the 2009 Commencement address, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. The University’s 148th Commencement will begin at 8:30 a.m. May 15.

KoppWendy Kopp, founder and chief executive officer of Teach For America — the national corps of outstanding college graduates who commit to teach for at least two years in some of the country’s highest-need schools — has been selected to give the 2009 Commencement address at Washington University in St. Louis, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. The university’s 148th Commencement will begin at 8:30 a.m. May 15 in Brookings Quadrangle on the Danforth Campus.

Poet David Lehman, editor of The Best American Poetry series, will read from his work at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 2, for the Writing Program in Arts & Sciences. Lehman is the author of several collections of poems, including Poetry Forum: A Play Poem: A Pl’em (with Judith Hall, 2007), Jim and Dave Defeat the Masked Man (with James Cummins, 2006), When a Woman Loves a Man (2005), The Evening Sun (2002), The Daily Mirror: A Journal in Poetry (2000), Valentine Place (1996), Operation Memory (1990) and An Alternative to Speech (1986).