Newsroom Stories

Susan E. Mackinnon, MD, received the Clinician of the Year award and the Research Achievement Award in Basic Science at the American Association of Plastic Surgeons’ annual meeting April 14-17, 2012, in San Francisco.

Third-year law students Justin Lepp, Nick Rosinia and Mikela Sutrina are the first Washington University in St. Louis School of Law team to win the American Bar Association’s (ABA) National Appellate Advocacy Competition, the largest and most competitive moot court competition in the country. The students went a combined 11-0 in the Seattle Regional and National Final en route to the championship April 14, surpassing 209 other teams from 118 law schools.

Graduate student groups and individual leaders at Washington University in St. Louis who help “bridge the gaps” between graduate and professional students from diverse areas of study throughout WUSTL’s seven schools were recognized during a recent awards ceremony and reception. The Graduate Professional Council’s Bridging GAPS (Graduate and Professional Students) Awards Ceremony was held April 9 in the Danforth University Center’s Goldberg Formal Lounge.

The Advisory Committee for the Diversity and Inclusion Grants has awarded eight grants totaling nearly $174,000 to Washington University faculty and administrators for initiatives that improve the university environment for women and members of underrepresented minority groups.

The Department of Mathematics has announced that a WUSTL team, consisting of senior Alex Anderson and juniors Tom Morrell and Ari Tenzer, placed 28th out of 460 teams in the demanding William Lowell Putnam Mathematics Competition. Two WUSTL teams also took first and third place in the 17th annual Missouri Collegiate Mathematics Competition. The winning team consisted of freshman Alan Talmage, and juniors Tom Moreel and Ari Tenzer.

The 2012 Spector Prize, which recognizes outstanding undergraduate acheivement in research, has been awarded to Paul Fahey, who graduated in December 2011 summa cum laude with a degree in biology. Fahey worked in the lab of Karen O’Malley, PhD, professor of neurobiology in the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology at the School of Medicine. His thesis focused on Fragile X syndrome, the most common form of inherited mental retardation.

Jim Jackson (left), project manager in Facilities Management at the School of Medicine, explains energy used in light bulbs to a visitor to the energy conservation and alternative energy station at the School of Medicine’s Earth Day festivities April 19 in the BJC Institute of Health Hope Plaza. In addition to energy, visitors learned about recycling, gardening and water conservation, and transportation and clean air.

The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis honored seven outstanding architecture and art alumni at its fifth annual Awards for Distinction dinner April 26. The awards recognized graduates who have demonstrated creativity, innovation, leadership and vision through their contributions to the practices of art, architecture and design, as well as to Washington University and the Sam Fox School. In addition, architect Juhani Pallasmaa of Helsinki, Finland, received the Dean’s Medal.

The No. 17 men’s tennis team won its seventh straight match with an 8-1 victory over No. 30 DePauw University April 21 at the Tao Tennis Center. WUSTL is 9-0 this season at home has won 15 straight home matches dating back to last season. Updates also included on women’s tennis, women’s golf, track & field, softball and baseball.

Five Arts & Sciences juniors have been awarded prestigious national scholarships. Winners of the Goldwater Scholarship are Rachel Greenstein, a biology major, Jennifer Head, who is majoring in chemical engineering, and Jenny Liu, who is majoring in electrical and biomedical engineering. Madeleine Daepp, majoring in economics and mathematics, and Jeremy Pivor, majoring in environmental biology with a minor in public health, won the Udall Scholarship.