Newsroom Stories

Alla MaileyMichael PollanCelebrated food writer Michael Pollan will receive the Washington University Humanities Medal as part of “Celebrating Our Books, Recognizing Our Authors,” the university’s seventh annual faculty book colloquium. The biannual award is given to a distinguished scholar, writer or artist whose career merits special recognition for excellence and courage.

Election night media coverage will feature three professors from Washington University on KETC-TV, Channel 9. The professors will be among local political experts and citizens invited to participate in the station’s multimedia collaboration with the St. Louis Beacon, an online journal.

Acclaimed author Steve Stern, the Visiting Fannie Hurst Professor of Creative Literature, will present a pair of events Nov. 13 and 20. Over the last quarter-century Stern has earned critical accolades for creating colorful characters that The New York Times says mine “the rich terrain of Eastern European Jewry.” His most recent novel is The Angel of Forgetfulness (2005), which the Washington Post praised as “touching, funny and dizzying.”

The tonsils and lymphoid tissues in the intestinal tract that help protect the body from external pathogens are the home base of a rare immune cell newly identified by researchers at the School of Medicine. The researchers indicate that the immune cells could have a therapeutic role in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Visitation and Funeral Arrangements have been finalized for University City Police Sergeant Michael King, who was killed in the line of duty this past weekend.

WailooKeith Wailoo will share his insights on today’s health care disparities in his talk “How Cancer Crossed the Color Line: Race and Disease in America” at 4 p.m. on Tues., Nov. 11 in Rebstock Hall room 215.

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Photo by Robert BostonJacques Baenziger prospers on paths less taken in education and research.

Mario LangElisabeth HarnikThe Jazz at Holmes Series will present two internationally reknowned musicians in free concerts Nov. 6 and 13. The Nov. 6 performance will feature Austrian pianist Elisabeth Harnik, perhaps best known for her piano improvisations. On Nov. 13 Jazz at Holmes will welcome legendary New York saxophonist David Liebman and his Quartet.

Courtesy PhotoLuna Negra Dance Theater brings its unique form of dance to Edison Theatre at 8 p.m. Nov. 7 and 8 as part of the OVATIONS! series.