Newsroom Stories

The number of women and minorities on corporate boards has remained static in the last 10 years, despite an increasing amount of data supporting the argument that board diversity is related to good business outcomes. “Businesses have a significant opportunity to improve performance through increasing the diversity – in many forms – of their board,” said Hillary Sale, JD, corporate governance expert and professor of law and management at Washington University in St. Louis. Sale offers thoughts for both corporations and potential board candidates.

Joseph Loewenstein, PhD, director of the Humanities Digital Workshop, is leading a vertical seminar for faculty, staff and graduate students in the digital humanities. The burgeoning field gives scholars new methods to analyze literature and history and encourages a new kind of cross-disciplinary collaboration.

WUSTL senior Alaina Smith works as a court advocate with the St. Louis County Domestic Violence Court and as a facilitator at RAVEN, a batterer intervention program. Smith is among this year’s Gerry and Bob Virgil Ethic of Service Award winners.

Scientists often use things in nature as a model to make new things, such as using birds as models for airplanes. One WUSTL engineer is using a basic cell as a model to make genetically engineered bacteria that would produce biofuel or pharmaceuticals. Tae Seok Moon, PhD, has received a prestigious Faculty Early Career Development Award from the National Science Foundation for his project, “Engineering Biological Robustness through Synthetic Control.”

Alex Tinianow will receive this year’s Harrison D. Stalker Award from the Department of Biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. The award is given annually to a graduating biology major whose undergraduate career combines outstanding scientific scholarship with significant contributions in the arts and humanities.

School of Medicine scientists have uncovered a new way the immune system may fight cancers and viral infections. The finding could aid efforts to use immune cells to treat illness.

WUSTL economist Steven Fazzari sees the need for building a strong macroeconomy that can establish a healthy demand for the new products and services created by innovators. His research suggests that innovation alone is not sufficient to build a healthy economy.

In his new book, “Leading Change from the Middle,” Jackson Nickerson, PhD, the Frahm Family Professor of Organization & Strategy in Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, offers a practical and novel approach for building extraordinary capability without the traditional use of authority.

Thurtene Carnival drew thousands of revelers to Washington University in St. Louis to enjoy rides, shows and food. The student-run carnival benefited local charity TASK, or Team Activities for Special Kids.

Three beloved longtime Brown School faculty — representing 102 years of scholarship, research and collaboration — were elevated to new positions within the faculty April 2 during an installation ceremony in Brown Lounge.