Newsroom Stories

The women’s soccer team wins two games over the weekend and advances in the NCAA Division III championship tournament. Updates also on men’s soccer, football, volleyball, cross country and men’s and women’s tennis.

For 56 seasons, the St. Louis Chamber Chorus — which describes itself as the area’s only “itinerant choir” — has devised a cappella programs that allow audiences to both visually and acoustically explore many of St. Louis’ most architecturally significant venues. On Nov. 20, the Chamber Chorus will pay its first visit to Washington University’s 560 Music Center. The concert, titled “A Mentor’s Memory,” will honor the academic setting with a series of works highlighting the relationships between celebrated classical composers and their most influential teachers.

The Center for the Humanities and Program in Film & Media Studies will host the Eighth Annual Children’s Film Showcase Nov. 18, 19 and 20. Titled “An Exploration of Children’s Films and Their Audiences,” the showcase is presented in conjunction with Cinema St. Louis, as part of the 20th Annual St. Louis International Film Festival. In all, the Children’s Film Showcase will feature 11 screenings as well as lectures and Q&A sessions with several of the filmmakers.

Kent D. Syverud, JD, law dean and the Ethan A.H. Shepley Distinguished University Professor at Washington University, presented the Dean’s Medal to alumnus Mel F. Brown, JD, Nov. 9 at the annual Scholars in Law dinner. The Dean’s Medal is the highest honor a dean can bestow upon a graduate of the law school.

HealthStreet, a Washington University School of Medicine initiative to link the community to social and medical referrals and research opportunities, recently called for submissions of art depicting health from students in the St. Louis Public Schools. The art is on public display between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays in HealthStreet’s offices at 4306 Manchester Ave.

Olin Business School aggressively seeks and recruits students with military backgrounds like Tod Stephens, who is in the joint MBA/JD program. Olin recently become a full partner in the Yellow Ribbon Program, in which tuition costs are covered jointly by Olin and the Department of Veterans Affairs. And it has for years provided scholarship opportunities for many former junior military officers and non-commissioned officers through Olin Veterans Association Scholarships. 

Last January two amateur meteorite hunters dropped by Randy Korotev’s office at Washington University in St. Louis to show him their latest purchase, a 17-kilogram pallasite meteorite found in 2006 near Conception Junction (population 202) in northwest Missouri.Korotev, an expert in lunar meteorites, identified the stone as a piece of an asteroid. His lab also analyzed crystals within the rock to help identify its body of origin, eventually referring the meteorite hunters to UCLA for analysis of the metal in which the crystals are embedded.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin delivered the keynote address at this year’s Founders Day gala Nov. 5. She was onstage during the awards presentation and joined in the robust applause for WUSTL professor and alumnus Jessie Ternberg, MD (left), a pioneer in medical research and first female professor of surgery in pediatrics, who received a Distinguished Alumni Award.

In commemoration of Veterans Day Nov. 11, students in a Lifelong Learning Institute class on World War II honored their fellow classmates who are World War II veterans. Six World War II veterans are enrolled — the greatest number in a single session. In a recent class, each veteran was recognized individually and a military medley of service songs was played. The institute, part of University College in Arts & Sciences, offers classes to those age 55 or older. 

Crowd funding, in which a group of investors pools money to fund a project or startup business — often online through social media and sites such as Kickstarter.com — has gained attention recently as a possible source for stimulating economic growth. But an expert on entrepreneurship at Washington University in St. Louis says crowd funding may not be all its cracked up to be.