Newsroom Stories

Sixty-five years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court — in a unanimous decision — ruled that housing covenants restricting home ownership based on race violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution’s 14th Amendment. The case was Shelley v. Kraemer. Leading the charge in that historic 1948 case was Margaret Bush Wilson, an African-American lawyer and civil rights activist. Margaret Bush Wilson’s legacy will be explored in a 1.0 credit CLE event, “Celebrating the 65th Anniversary of Shelley v. Kraemer and the Legacy of Margaret Bush Wilson: Where Are We Now?”, at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 22,  in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom of Washington University School of Law. The celebration will feature Theodore M. Shaw, JD, professor of professional practice at Columbia University School of Law. The event is free and open to students, faculty, staff, and the community.

Leaders from two of the world’s top research universities and several major international corporations will gather in St. Louis Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 19-20, for the Washington University in St. Louis-Indian Institute of Technology Bombay Corporate Conclave, aimed at strengthening the U.S.-India connection around innovation and education, particularly in addressing pressing global issues.

Nirupama Rao, Indian Ambassador to the United States, will speak about U.S. and India relations during a visit to the university Saturday, Oct. 19. Rao will present the McDonnell International Scholars Academy 2013 S.T. Lee Distinguished Lecture at 5:30 p.m. in Simon Hall’s May Auditorium. Rao’s lecture will serve as the capstone to the Washington University in St. Louis-Indian Institute of Technology Bombay Corporate Conclave.​

Ramanath Cowsik, internationally recognized for his contributions to neutrino physics and to the understanding of dark matter in the universe, was installed as the James S. McDonnell Professor of Space Sciences in Arts & Sciences in a ceremony Oct. 7 in Holmes Lounge.

WUSTL students kicked off Car-Free Month Oct. 4 with a bike-in movie at Forest Park. Today is the last day to sign up for the Car-Free Challenge. Other events this month include free bike tune-ups, bike rides and the MetroLink Prom. 

Twin brothers Obi and Malachi Griffith and their colleagues at The Genome Institute have created a massive online database that matches thousands of genes linked to cancer and other diseases with drugs that target those genes.

Members of the Washington University in St. Louis community will gather at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 15, in the Ginkgo Room of Olin Library to remember Rita Levi-Montalcini, one of two women from the university who won the Nobel Prize. The event, which is hosted by the Woman’s Club of Washington University, is free and open to the public.

Scientists from the School of Medicine and in the Netherlands have found that a class of specialized cells in the stomach reverts to stem cells more often than researchers had thought. One or more chief cells, which normally make digestive juices in the stomach, have changed into a stem cell in the image shown.

Afghan-American journalist and Opium Nation author Fariba Nawa will participate in two Washington University in St. Louis programs exploring the current and future state of Afghanistan: She will give an Assembly Series talk, “Afghanistan, Heroin and Women,” at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16, in Umrath Lounge; and she will lead a panel discussion, “Aftershocks of the Afghanistan War: What’s Next for Those Who Left and for Those Left Behind,” at 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, in Mallinckrodt Center’s Multipurpose Room. Both are free and open to the public. Nawa was born in Afghanistan but later moved to California. She returned after the U.S.-led fight began against the Taliban and al-Qaida in that country, and in 2011 wrote a book about the addictions, violence and other tragedies borne of Afghanistan’s opiate industry.

The city of Providence, R.I., is taking the fight against Big Tobacco to a new level with innovative tobacco control policies in the retail environment. A new study, led in part by Washington University in St. Louis’ Center for Public Health Systems Science (CPHSS) at the Brown School, details Providence’s efforts and provides a road map for other municipalities to follow.