Newsroom Stories

Ray Bradbury’s vision of the future was a scary one indeed. Of course, that’s the point of being a science-fiction writer, but in his classic Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury wrote about firemen who didn’t necessarily put out fires. Rather, they started them in order to burn books and suppress learning and knowledge. The book is the centerpiece of a National Endowment for the Arts-supported program in February. “The Big Read,” hosted by the University in partnership with several local organizations, will feature lectures, readings, art exhibits, theater productions, book discussion groups and film festivals featuring the themes of Bradbury’s novel.

Henry Schaerf, Ph.D., associate professor emeritus of mathematics in Arts & Sciences, died Sunday, March 5, 2006, in Seattle.

The University’s updated Web site recently went online, replacing the previous design that had been used for about three years. Visit the page at wustl.edu.

The policy, recently reviewed by the University Council and formally adopted by the Board of Trustees, is the result of a consensus-building process that started last spring.

WUSTL has received an Award of Excellence from the Health Improvement Institute for the merger of its multiple Institutional Review Boards.

Fuel-efficient technologies and vehicles from General Motors Corp. will be discussed in a program from 3-5 p.m. Jan. 25 in Whitaker Hall. Following the program, vehicles will be available for test drives.

Costas Azariadis, Ph.D., joins the Department of Economics in Arts & Sciences as professor. Azariadis earned a Ph.D. in 1975 from Carnegie Mellon University and has been affiliated with Brown University and the universities of Pennsylvania and California, Los Angeles. He was tenured in 1977 and promoted to full professor in 1983, both at Penn. […]

Stephen H. Legomsky, J.D., D.Phil., has been named the John S. Lehmann University Professor. The new professorship was created through a charitable trust established by the late John Lehmann, a distinguished alumnus, lawyer and University trustee for more than 20 years.

Rafia Zafar, Ph.D., professor of English, of African & African American studies and of American culture studies, all in Arts & Sciences, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture abroad during the 2007 spring semester.

Leonard Berg, founder and former director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, died Monday, Jan. 15, following a stroke. His early work formed the foundation for the systemized assessment of dementia and detection of early onset of Alzheimer’s disease now in common use.