Newsroom Stories

School of Medicine employees ignored the unexpected chill in the air Friday, Sept. 12, and came out in droves for the annual employee appreciation picnic on the Medical Campus. The picnic was sponsored by the dean’s office and the Medical School Management Council.

This week, Kristen O’Neal, a senior in English in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, will present a staged reading of “Kairos,” her first full-length play, as part of the university’s annual A.E. Hotchner New Play Festival. O’Neal discusses “Kairos,” the playwriting process, and what it is like to finally hear the words out loud.

​A new study by researchers from Washington University in St. Louis and the Kauffman Foundation explores how entrepreneurial hubs emerge and succeed when they are surrounded by favorable support systems. The paper is based on a case study of the St. Louis region, which has not been widely known as an entrepreneurial hub, but has seen a recent, substantial transformation of its local entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Michael S. Kinch, PhD, joins Washington University in St. Louis as associate vice chancellor and director of the university’s new Center for Research Innovation in Business. H. Holden Thorp, PhD, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, made the announcement.

Ellen Binder, MD, and Krikor Dikranian, MD, PhD, have been named the 2014-2016 Carol B. and Jerome T. Loeb Teaching Fellows at the School of Medicine. The two-year fellowships support awardees as they implement innovative ideas that enhance the education of medical students and residents.

H. Holden Thorp, PhD, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at Washington University in St. Louis, will be named the inaugural holder of the Rita Levi-Montalcini Distinguished University Professorship during a ceremony at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 14, in Emerson Auditorium in Knight Hall.

H. Holden Thorp, PhD, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, has appointed an eleven-member committee to identify candidates for the position of dean of the School of Engineering & Applied Science. Ralph S. Quatrano, PhD, announced last week that he will step down as dean at the end of the academic year, June 30, 2015.

A tax on sugar-sweetened beverages such as sodas, energy drinks, sweet teas and sports drinks could reduce obesity in adolescents, and exercise promotion such as after-school physical activity programs could impact younger children in the fight against fat. Those are the findings of a new national study co-authord by Ross Brownson, PhD, professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

Washington University has been named Best Workplace for Commuters (more than 100 employees category) by the Citizens for Modern Transit (CMT), a leading regional advocate for light rail and public transportation. Kim Cella, executive director of CMT, said the university’s varied menu of alternative transportation programs benefits both the Washington University community and the broader St. Louis region.

Sharon Stahl, PhD, vice chancellor for students at Washington University in St. Louis and longtime adviser and mentor to undergraduates in the College of Arts & Sciences, has announced that she will retire at the end of the academic year, June 30, 2015, according to Provost H. Holden Thorp.