Newsroom Stories

Remarks made during the recently settled NBA lockout brought the subject of race and sports back into the forefront. Gerald Early’s A Level Playing Field: African American Athletes and the Republic of Sports, is a series of essays that give historical perspective to the issue of race and sports through distinct personalities such as baseball’s Jackie Robinson and Curt Flood and NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb. Early, PhD, is the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.

An afternoon ceremony was held in Graham Chapel Saturday, Dec. 3, to recognize Washington University’s December degree candidates. There were 784 students who filed as December degree candidates for 826 degrees. Steven H. Lipstein, president and chief executive officer of BJC HealthCare, delivered remarks to the degree candidates and Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton gave the Chancellor’s Message. A reception followed in the Danforth University Center.

WUSTL co-founder William Greenleaf Eliot  (played by Jeffery Matthews, professor of practice in the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences) celebrated his 200th birthday Dec. 5 with students in the William Greenleaf Eliot Residential College. Former Chancellor Wiiliam H. Danforth also joined in the fun, as he and ‘Eliot’ talked about what it means to be a university leader and how the role has changed.

Faculty Achievement Award winners Wayne M. Yokoyama, MD, and Erik Trinkaus, PhD, listen before the award ceremony Dec. 3 at Simon Hall. The ceremony also honored Chancellor’s Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship winners Jonathan S. Turner, PhD, and Jerome R. Cox Jr., ScD. The recognition ceremony was followed by the annual Chancellor’s Gala at the Danforth University Center.

Washington University’s Genome Institute has received a $114 million grant to continue its groundbreaking genomic research. The four-year grant comes from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The university’s Genome Institute is one of only three large federally funded genome centers in the United States.

Students wanting to make a significant environmental impact on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis are encouraged to sign up for the third annual Olin Sustainability Case Competition. The registration deadline is Friday, Dec. 9.

Medical students gave Distinguished Service Teaching Awards to more than 40 faculty and 10 resident physicians Dec. 2 in appreciation of exemplary service in medical student education.

Dan Feng, a first-year medical student, was among many students who sang and played instruments at a Dec. 1 Coffeehouse, sponsored by the Student Arts Commission, at the Farrell Learning and Teaching Center Hearth.

Graham Colditz, MD, DrPH, a disease prevention expert at the Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University in St. Louis has received the Medal of Honor for cancer control research from the American Cancer Society.

A gingerbread version of WUSTL’s iconic Brookings Hall on display Nov. 30 in the Bear’s Den on the South 40. WUSTL Dining Services made the Gingerbread Brookings in celebration of the holiday season with more than 30 lbs. of gingerbread dough, 25 lbs. of icing and nearly 10 lbs. of candy.