Notables

WashU Law presented its 2026 Distinguished Alumni Awards recently in Anheuser-Busch Hall.

Jin Huang, an expert in the development of social policies that support family and child well-being, has been installed as the Irving Louis Horowitz Professor in Social Policy at the WashU Brown School.

Nicole Spangler, a rising senior studying classics and history in WashU Arts & Sciences, received a prestigious Beinecke Scholarship, becoming the first WashU student to win that honor since 2014.

Nationally recognized physician-scientist Matthew A. Powell, MD, at WashU Medicine, will lead the effort to advance gynecologic cancer care.

Julia Coric, a rising senior studying chemistry in WashU Arts & Sciences, has been selected as an Astronaut Scholar for the 2026-27 school year. She is among 79 students from 54 universities chosen for the prestigious award. 

WashU Medicine pulmonologist Steven Brody and neurologists Jin-Moo Lee and Timothy Miller have been elected to the Association of American Physicians.

WashU was ranked ninth among U.S. universities in the inaugural Cure Innovation Index, an assessment of how effectively institutions translate research advances into market-ready innovations. The index cited WashU’s biomedical research capabilities and support for commercialization and innovation, among other strengths.

The conclusion of the NCAA season brought success to a number WashU student athletes, including the women’s tennis team and track-and-field athlete Peter Lichtenberger.

The Riverfront Times print editions from 1977–2013 are now available to researchers at WashU Libraries’ Department of Special Collections. WashU curators undertook the project to ensure a valuable local history resource is preserved and usable by researchers.

WashU Medicine researchers Randall J. Bateman, MD, and David M. Holtzman, MD, were honored for their work developing diagnostic blood tests for Alzheimer’s disease with the Bayh-Dole Coalition’s 2026 American Innovator Award.