Newsroom Stories

Whether he did or did not cut down that cherry tree, George Washington loved trees. He planted hundreds on his Mount Vernon estate. And, by George, Washington University in St. Louis has a direct descendent of one of those trees on its Danforth Campus. WUSTL’s horticuluturists have taken special care of the tree since receiving the seedling in 1991. One of 60 seedlings sent to sites around the country, only 12 offspring remain of Washington’s tulip poplar.

A suspended jogging track, a three-court gymnasium, state-of-the-art fitness equipment and team locker rooms are among the features planned for the new Gary M. Sumers Recreation Center. The center is scheduled to open in 2016.​​

WUSTL’s Hazing Prevention Week begins Monday. As part of that, Tim Marchell, PhD, of Cornell University, will speak with employees and students about the psychology of hazing. Recent survey results show about 16 percent of WUSTL undergraduates have witnessed hazing.

Researchers at the School of Medicine have identified an unusual cause of the lysosomal storage disorder called mucolipidosis III, at least in a subset of patients. Unlike most genetic diseases that involve dysfunctional or missing proteins, the culprit is a normal protein that ends up in the wrong place.

WUSTL’s Henry Biggs, PhD (right), plays the part of Pierre Laclede during a re-enactment of the founding of St. Louis, held on the city’s 250th anniversary Saturday, Feb. 15, in St. Louis’ City Hall. During a daylong symposium, held Friday, Feb. 14, at the Missouri History Museum, three WUSTL scholars provided their perspectives on the city’s historical significance.

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation announced Feb. 17 that Washington University in St. Louis’ Gary Patti has been awarded a 2014 Sloan Research Fellowship. He is among 126 outstanding U.S. and Canadian researchers selected as fellowship recipients this year. Awarded annually since 1955, the fellowships are given to early-career scientists and scholars whose achievements and potential identify them as rising stars, the next generation of scientific leaders.

Babies who develop leukemia during the first year of life appear to have inherited an unfortunate combination of genetic variations that may make the infants highly susceptible to the disease, according to a new study led by the School of Medicine’s Todd Druley, MD, PhD.

Acclaimed poet C.D. Wright, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry, will read from her work Thursday, Feb. 20. Wright is author of 12 collections, most recently “One With Others” (2010), which combines poetry and documentary evidence to portray her native Arkansas during the Civil Rights era.

Former Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman Jr. assesses our nation’s status at the next Assembly Series presentation, 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 25. in Graham Chapel.  The event is free and open to the public, though seating for the public will be limited due to an anticipated large campus turnout. Visit the Assembly Series website for more information or call 314-935-4620.

Shinohara Kazua remains something of a cult figure. Although his work has inspired generations of architects, it has seldom been seen outside Japan. But this spring, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum presents “On the Thresholds of Space-Making,” the first U.S. museum show dedicated to the influential mathematician-turned-architect.