Newsroom Stories

Jason Kander’s admission this week that he has suspended his Kansas City mayoral campaign to seek help for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has helped to reduce stigma around mental health by being open, honest and courageous, says an expert on PTSD at Washington University in St. Louis.

Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which takes place Monday, Oct. 8, will be recognized on campus with a candlelight vigil outside Hillman Hall, featuring music, speakers and a blessing. The event is an opportunity to honor the original inhabitants of the Americas, rather than Christopher Columbus.

Analyzing data from more than 400,000 people, researchers at the School of Medicine have found that consuming one to two drinks four or more times per week — an amount deemed healthy by current guidelines — increases the risk of premature death by 20 percent.

Amid fireworks and the familiar anthem “Olympic Fanfare,” an Olympic five-ring “Spectacular” was dedicated Sept. 28, just steps from the historic stadium that was the site of the 1904 Olympic Games. The permanent sculpture near Francis Field commemorates St. Louis’ role as an international Olympic city.

Peter Mutharika, president of his native country, the Republic of Malawi, and the Charles Nagel Professor of International and Comparative Law Emeritus at Washington University School of Law, received an honorary doctor of humane letters from the university.

Gary Patti, the Michael and Tana Powell Professor of Chemistry in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has been awarded $4.8 million in two separate National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants focused on improving the accessibility of metabolomics — the study of the biochemical reactions that underlie metabolism.

The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts will launch a new master of fine arts degree in illustration and visual culture in fall 2019. The program — the first of its kind in the Midwest — will combine intensive studio practice with an emphasis on scholarly and theoretical analysis.

Using a novel idea, as well as a rare union of separate centers within Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis’ Bauer Leadership Center and Center for Analytics and Business Insights together are holding a Data for Good conference Friday, Oct. 5, at Emerson Auditorium, Knight Hall, as part of the David R. Calhoun Lectureship series.

Thanks to a $500,000 gift from Cliff Holekamp and his father, Bill Holekamp, known as the Holekamp Seed Fund, Olin Business School now offers up to 20 grants a year of $1,000 to students who need a small injection of capital to get a startup business off the ground.

“If anyone needed visible, painful evidence of how little progress the United States has made in attaining gender parity, this senate hearing was it,” argues Mary Ann Dzuback, chair of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.