Newsroom Stories

Jeffrey Gordon has been awarded the 8th Danone International Prize for Nutrition in recognition of his outstanding contributions to research on the human gut microbiome, diet and nutritional status.

The Career Center at Washington University in St. Louis encouraged students to network with each other and talk about their summer travels, internships and community service during an event near Danforth University Center Sept. 8. After filling out a career interest survey, students were treated to free ice cream and given a shirt that says ‘Just Ask Me About My Summer’ on the back — along with Sharpie pens to write their answers.

Art, of course, can be challenging, engaging, uplifting and enlightening. It also can be fun. On Saturday, Sept. 24, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum will host Community Day, an all-ages afternoon of games, storytelling, art-making, workshops and tours led by museum curators and Washington University student docents. The event, which runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., is free and open to the public.

Food activist Ellen Gustafson, a former United Nations spokesperson for the World Food Program, will give the annual Olin Fellows Lecture as part of the Assembly Series at 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 23. Her talk “A New Understanding of Hunger, Obesity and the Food System.” will be held in the Law School Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom in Anheuser-Busch Hall.

A new study by a finance professor at Washington University in St. Louis finds that the amount of stock options in a CEO’s compensation package can result in an increase in risk-taking by company leaders. Such a finding seems obvious at first blush, but uncovering clean empirical evidence always has been illusive.

The Mars rover Opportunity, which was designed to operate for three months and to rove less than a mile, has now journeyed more than seven years crossing more than 21 miles. Today, it is poised at the edge of a heavily eroded impact basin, the possible location of clay minerals formed in low-acid wet conditions on the red planet.

Arts & Sciences students will have to look in a new place this year to find their advisers and other administrative services. The College of Arts & Sciences moved its offices over the summer to the first floor of Cupples II Hall, which has been renovated over the past year. In addition, the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and the Office of Undergraduate Research have new homes in Cupples II.

The Department of Neurological Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine celebrates its 100th anniversary this month. Over the past century, it has become internationally known for its groundbreaking basic and clinical research, dedication to patient care and outstanding training of residents. The department’s origins can be traced to the 1911 arrival at the School of Medicine of Ernest Sachs, MD, who became the world’s first professor of neurological surgery in 1919.

Lace up your walking shoes – Tread the Med, Washington University School of Medicine’s walking program, launches Sept. 28 in Hudlin Park. “We are launching this program because we want to help our employees get healthier and to encourage a healthy habit like walking,” says Gregg Evans, human resources consultant.

Members of the Washington University community, including Lauren Yang, a second-year medical student, turned out Sept. 13 to give blood at the university-wide blood drive. In the past four years, the WUSTL community has donated enough blood to save nearly 20,000 lives, says Stephanie N. Kurtzman, director of the Community Service Office and associate director of the Gephardt Institute for Public Service.