Newsroom Stories

The Vanderhof home is filled with individualists, eccentric more than rugged, chasing assorted muses. Rooms run riot with dance rehearsals, printing presses, wild animals and small explosives. But then Alice falls in love with the son of a Wall Street executive. Can these two families — the free spirits and the moneyed snobs—ever reconcile?

A major commitment by Donald Jubel, on his family’s behalf, to honor his late parents will provide the impetus for the next phase of physical expansion for Washington University in St. Louis’ School of Engineering & Applied Science.

Sean B. Carroll, PhD (left), vice president for science education at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a WUSTL alum (AB ’79) and one of the country’s foremost experts on evolutionary developmental biology, returned to campus to help the Institute for School Partnership celebrate its annual Darwin Day event for area high school teachers. Instrumental in Carroll’s appearance was mentor and teacher David Kirk, PhD (right), professor emeritus of biology in Arts & Sciences, who called Carroll one of the most “distinguished graduates in biology the department has had.”

Scholars from across the nation will help kick off St. Louis’ 250th “Birthday Bash” weekend when they provide their perspectives on the city’s historical significance during a daylong symposium Friday, Feb. 14, at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. The symposium will be held from 9 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. in Lee Auditorium. The symposium luncheon will be held at Washington University in St. Louis.

Even at 282 years old, George Washington still enjoys a good birthday party. In celebration of George Washington Week, sponsored by WUSTL sophomore honorary society Lock and Chain, our founding father shares why he loves this country — and this campus.

Some WUSTL faculty members have received awards from the Fulbright Program for academic pursuits in areas ranging from architecture to education to medicine. 

A recent gift of $1,025,000 will establish the Suren G. Dutia and Jas K. Grewal Global Impact Award in the Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Washington University. The endowed fund will receive $1 million, with the remaining $25,000 to support awards made during the current academic year. Applications are being accepted until March 24 for awards to support business ventures aimed at catalyzing social change.

School of Law faculty joined in a special moot court program last month to help attorneys prepare for — and students better understand — a landmark intellectual property case that the Supreme Court will consider this month.

Access to required anesthetic agents for a lethal injection is quickly disappearing, leaving the future of the death penalty in the United States in question. “Because the European Union opposes the death penalty, it prohibits the export of goods for executions [and] requires a time-consuming preauthorization review for every shipment of a potential ‘dual use’ pharmaceutical,” says Rebecca Dresser, JD, biomedical ethics expert and professor of law and of medicine at Washington University in St. Louis. “Capital cases are expensive, and state budgets are tight. High costs and concern about erroneous convictions have led a few states to abolish the death penalty in recent years. Barriers to obtaining lethal injection drugs could lead more states to do away with the death penalty altogether.”

The Mosaic Project announces a number of important updates as part of its efforts toward improving diversity and inclusion for students at WUSTL. Because of the hard work and leadership of a dedicated group of students, faculty and staff, the Bias Report and Support System is live and the Center for Diversity and Inclusion is under development to open in 2014. In addition, a campus climate survey will be sent to all Danforth campus students on Feb. 16 and a new stand-alone community values program for undergraduate student orientation will launch this fall.