Newsroom Stories

Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton has announced two important promotions, effective Oct. 1. James V. Wertsch, PhD, has been promoted to vice chancellor for international relations, the university official responsible for international programs and initiatives; and John A. Berg has been promoted to vice chancellor for admissions and will continue to preside over admissions and financial aid.

Seasonal flu vaccines will be offered to School of Medicine faculty and staff at no cost beginning Tuesday, Oct. 2. The medical school recommends that all employees, even those with no direct patient contact, get a vaccine.

At the turn of the last century, Australian composer Percy Aldridge Grainger developed a fascination with folk music of the British Isles. Among the results was Molly on the Shore, an arrangement of two traditional Irish reels, or dances. On Oct. 7, the Washington University Wind Ensemble will perform Molly on the Shore as part of a free concert marking the public debut of new conductor Chris Becker.

Sophomore Anna Zambricki recorded the second hat trick of her career to lead the No. 11 ranked women’s soccer team to a 3-0 victory in the conference opener for both teams on Sept.30 in Pittsburgh, Pa.

There’s no debating the fact Washington University in St. Louis experts know presidential politics. The university hosted presidential debates in 1992, 2000 and ’04, as well as the VP debate in ’08. As President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney prepare to debate this week, you’re preparing your coverage. Washington University professors are ready to comment — over the phone, on air, on camera – to help clarify the issues that will define the 2012 campaign.

Last fall, students from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts created Parking Plot, a subversive look at just what constitutes “urban nature.” Now, Parking Plot is one of two projects with ties to the Sam Fox School included in the U.S. Pavilion of the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale — arguably the profession’s leading international showcase. In addition, Peter MacKeith, associate dean of the Sam Fox School and associate professor of architecture, curated the Nordic Pavilion in its entirety.

Rudy Ruettiger made a surprise visit to the Washington University in St. Louis football practice Sept. 27 at Francis Field. The Rudy Dream Big Bus Tour has made stops at key locations across the nation’s midsection, spreading Ruettiger’s encouraging message of never giving up.

Studying leukemia in mice, John F. DiPersio, MD, PhD, and his colleagues at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, have reduced a life-threatening complication of stem cell transplants, the only curative treatment when leukemia returns. ​​

Provost Edward S. Macias, PhD, has announced that Barbara A. Schaal, PhD, the Mary-Dell Chilton Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biology in Arts & Sciences, will become the university’s next dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences, effective Jan. 1, 2013. Schaal succeeds Gary S. Wihl, the Hortense & Tobias Lewin Distinguished Professor in the Humanities in Arts & Sciences, who will be on leave beginning Jan. 1, 2013.

Washington University in St. Louis has been ranked among the top schools in the nation for entrepreneurship by Entrepreneur magazine’s annual Princeton Review report. The annual survey names the schools with the top 25 undergraduate and top 25 graduate entrepreneurship programs in the nation.