Newsroom Stories

Himadri Pakrasi, PhD, director of WUSTL’s International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES), has become the inaugural holder of the Myron and Sonya Glassberg/Albert and Blanche Greensfelder Distinguished University Professor.

In Modern Life, her third book of poems, Matthea Harvey offers a whirling, riffing, buoyantly ironic take on post-9/11 America. At 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 27, Harvey, the Visiting Hurst Professor of Creative Writing at Washington University in St. Louis, will read from her work for The Writing Program in Arts & Sciences.

For 100 years, the dogma has been that amino-acid sequences determine protein folding and that the folded structure determines the protein’s function. But as a Washington University in St. Louis engineer explains in the  Sept. 20 issue of Science, a large class of proteins doesn’t adhere to the structure-function paradigm. Called intrinsically disordered proteins, these proteins fail fold either in whole or in part and yet they are functional.

The Portfolio, a new electronic record of an undergraduate student’s involvement in student groups, leadership positions, community service, internships, awards, research, employment and many other activities, will launch with a four-week pilot project for about 80 students in October. The record is designed to complement the academic transcript.

New research suggests that a key immune cell may play a role in lung cancer susceptibility. Working in mice, Alexander Krupnick, MD, and colleagues found evidence that the genetic diversity in natural killer cells, which typically seek out and destroy tumor cells, contributes to whether or not the animals develop lung cancer.

What is the state of the humanities? How are they taught, what do they teach us, and how do they serve the public good? Earlier this month, cultural leaders from across the state gathered at the Missouri History Museum to discuss “The Importance of the Humanities and Social Sciences for Public Life.” Convened by WUSTL’s Gerald Early, the meeting was the third in a series of regional forums presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Students registered to vote Sept. 18 in Danforth University Center during an all-day campaign sponsored by the Gephardt Institute for Public Service. People are invited to stop by the institute’s office in Danforth University Center and register to vote before the Oct. 10 Missouri deadline.

Richard A. Loomis, PhD, associate professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences, received the David Hadas Teaching Award during the Arts & Sciences’ annual faculty reception, held Sept. 6 in Holmes Lounge. The Hadas award recognizes an outstanding tenured faculty member in Arts & Sciences who demonstrates commitment and excellence in teaching first-year undergraduates.

Nominations are due Oct. 19 for the fifth annual James M. Holobaugh Honors. LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) Student Involvement and Leadership will be hosting the Holobaugh Honors Ceremony at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 7, in Holmes Lounge, Ridgley Hall.

In August, the university welcomed a freshman class of approximately 1,640 students who came to WUSTL from across the United States and from 26 countries. Julie Shimabukuro, director of admissions, calls the Class of 2016 “a terrific group of students” who are “bright, talented and already engaged in the community.”