Newsroom Stories

Two WUSTL students have been selected as 2012 Truman Scholars: junior Arts & Science majors Madeleine Daepp and Ethan Lynch. WUSTL is one of six institutions nationwide to have multiple Truman Scholars. Because Lynch is studying abroad in Amman Jordan, Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton (right) used Skype to share the good news.

Alaina Butler of Lawrence, Kan., dances during the 22nd annual Pow Wow March 31 in the Athletic Center. The Pow Wow, hosted by the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies at the Brown School, offered visitors and participants a full day of dancing, singing, drumming, arts, crafts and food.

For Lewis Wall, MD, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, a dream has come true. For almost 20 years, he worked doggedly to build a hospital in one of the world’s poorest countries to treat women with a devastating childbirth injury. His dream became reality in February, when a 42-bed hospital opened in Niger, Africa. The facility is dedicated to repairing fistulas, wounds inflicted by prolonged labor, which leaves women — and often girls — steadily leaking wastes.

Washington University biomedical engineer Lihong Wang, PhD, will explain his photoacoustic tomography technology April 3 at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Chicago.

Dorothy Edwards, PhD, executive director of Green Dot, etc., a center dedicated to effective intervention and prevention of power-based personal violence, will be at Washington University in St. Louis at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 11, in Lab Sciences Room 300, on the Danforth Campus to give the Rabbi Ferdinand Isserman/Helen Manley Memorial Lecture for the Assembly Series.

Working in mice, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have devised a treatment that prevents the optic nerve injury that occurs in glaucoma, a neurodegenerative disease that is a leading cause of blindness. Researchers increased the resistance of optic nerve cells to damage by repeatedly exposing the mice to low levels of oxygen similar to those found at high altitudes.

Arts & Sciences recognized the achievements of six alumni during the 15th Annual Arts & Sciences Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony, held March 22 at the Crowne Plaza Clayton. Five alumni received the Distinguished Alumni Award and Robert L. Virgil, (MBA ’60, DBA ’67, honorary doctor of laws ’09), dean emeritus of Olin Business School and a WUSTL emeritus trustee, received the Dean’s Medal.

Students perform the traditional Bolivian dance Caporales during “Carnaval,” a yearly cultural show organized by the Association of Latin American Students. More than 130 students participated in skits, dances and musical acts to highlight the beauty, creativity and richness of Latin American culture. 

Students competed in tug-of-war during the 2012 Residential College Olympics March 31 on the South 40. This popular, annual event pits all of the residential colleges against each other in a day filled with fun activities. This year, Park/Mudd Residential College took first place overall.

Washington University’s academic programs in Washington, D.C., now are being led by the provost’s office, under the oversight of Priscilla Stone, PhD, assistant provost for international education. Kent D. Syverud, JD, dean of the School of Law and the Ethan A.H. Shepley University Professor, has led the D.C. initiative since its 2009 launch.