Newsroom Stories

Four students in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis have won important honors and fellowships this spring. They include the Carnegie Junior Fellowship, the Beinecke Scholarship, the Newman Civic Fellows Award and the Gates Cambridge Scholarship.

Last week, the university dedicated the Grossman Family SIMS Laboratory in Rudolph Hall. The build-out of the lab was funded by a gift from the family of WUSTL alumnus Matthew Grossman. The space houses a state-of-the-art secondary-ion mass spectrometer that will be used primarily for the analysis of geological samples but also will be available to members of the newly founded Institute of Materials Science and Engineering to study problems in the analysis and design of materials.

Daniel Blash and Denise DeCou, diversity and inclusion leaders at the School of Medicine, are on a mission to create a work environment that includes and nurtures people from all backgrounds. Their assignment is to reach 50 percent of the medical school workforce by June.

Students from Eureka High School prepare their plane for launch during the Boeing Design Challenge at the Washington University Field House April 29. They were among 110 area high school students from six school districts on 26 teams who designed and hand-launched balsa wood gliders in different competitions, learning concepts of physics and engineering. The teams were assisted by engineers from Boeing Co.

​​​LaTanya N. Buck, most recently director of the Cross Cultural Center at Saint Louis University, has been appointed director of the newly created Center for Diversity and Inclusion at Washington University in St. Louis. Holden Thorp, PhD, university provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, and Sharon Stahl, vice chancellor for students, made the announcement.

One of the first U.S. artists to hold an academic appointment in a scientific unit, Patricia Olynyk has collaborated with particle physicists and biologists; investigated anatomical models and medical devices; and displayed at the National Academy of Sciences. We sat down to discuss Washington University in St. Louis’ new Art|Sci Initiative and Fellows Program, which she launched earlier this spring.

Some hospitals facing financial penalties from Medicare for readmitting too many patients soon after discharge have said they are being unfairly penalized. Hospitals that treat a large number of patients with limited income and education are more likely to face such penalties.

Kevin Crouch, a senior in Arts & Sciences, reads to a Holman Elementary class during “On the Move: Encouraging Literacy,” a service project by Washington University in St. Louis’ Kappa Delta Pi chapter. Students in KDP, the international honor society in education, recently donated and delivered more than 330 books to Holman students and teachers.

Jean Allman, PhD, and Tabea Linhard, PhD, both in Arts & Sciences, each have been awarded a 2014 American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship. It provides salary replacement for scholars who are embarking on six to 12 months of full-time research and writing.

Knowledge can be imparted not only by spoken language and the written word, but also by drawing and photography and the moving image. This spring, 15 WUSTL students have explored St. Louis through the language of experimental film. We sat down with renowned video artist Monika Weiss to discuss the city, digital filmmaking and the training of the mind and soul.