Newsroom Stories

A new diagnostic test for a worm infection that eventually leads to severe enlargement and deformities of the legs and genitals is far more sensitive than the current test, according to results of a field study in Liberia, in West Africa, led by Washington University researchers, including Kurt Curtis.

Cory A. Booker, the mayor of Newark, N.J., told the more than 2,700 WUSTL graduates to focus on being “first class” in character, to never give up and to focus on performing small acts of kindness. Booker spoke at the university’s 152nd Commencement celebration.

The Class of 2013 and nearly 12,000 of its closest family and friends celebrated Commencement Friday. For a complete look at all the festivities, visit WUSTL’s 2013Grad website. Here, you will find Twitter and Facebook feeds and hundreds of photos from the day’s events in a Flickr collection. 

Read the full text of Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s speech at Washington University in St. Louis’ 152nd Commencement May 17, 2013.

Read the full text of Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton’s message to the graduates at Washington University in St. Louis’ 152nd Commencement ceremony May 17, 2013.

Washington University’s 152nd Commencement begins at 8:30 a.m. Friday, May 17, in Brookings Quadrangle. The university will award 2,873 degrees to 2,752 undergraduate, graduate and professional students. The university also will bestow honorary degrees on six individuals, including Commencement speaker Cory Booker, mayor of Newark, N.J.

An executive branch Inspector General played a critical role in exposing the IRS’s practice of targeting Tea Party groups, says Kathleen Clark, JD, anti-corruption expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “As we see with the IRS controversy, an Inspector General investigation can cause heads to roll. Perhaps that’s why some government agencies have been without an Inspector General for a very long time – measured not in months, but in years.” Clark notes that the State Department has been without an Inspector General for more than five years.

Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, a geologist and Apollo 17 astronaut, will be visiting Washington University in St. Louis the week of May 20 for a round of activities centered on lunar exploration, including a seminar about Schmitt’s geological exploration of the Moon’s Valley of Taurus-Littrow, an “exploration forum” and the review meeting of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera’s team, which is being hosted by WUSTL’s Brad Jolliff.

Friday, May 17, is National Bike to Work Day. For nearly 20 years, School of Medicine faculty Laura Bierut and Brad Evanoff have been riding their bikes to work. Earlier this week, they rode their tandem bike to the Medical Campus. The two encourage others to ride their bikes to work, too.

Five Washington University scientists, including Jung-Tsung Shen, PhD, recently received Bear Cub grants. The funding helps researchers commercialize their discoveries.