Notables

Mark R. Rank, WashU’s Herbert S. Hadley Professor of Social Welfare, is a winner of the NYC Big Book Award in the sociology category for his book “The Random Factor: How Chance and Luck Profoundly Shape Our Lives and the World Around Us.”

Naomi Kim-Yu, a doctoral candidate in English and a Lynne Cooper Harvey Fellow in American culture studies, both in WashU Arts & Sciences, has won a Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship.

Vincent Mellnick, MD, has been named senior vice chair and division director of academic practice and Malak Itani, MD, has been named section chief of abdominal imaging. Both are faculty members in WashU Medicine Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology.

Pamela Barmash, interim chair of Jewish, Islamic and Middle Eastern studies in WashU Arts & Sciences, has been elected president of the National Association of Professors of Hebrew.

Angela Coonce, chief of the WashU Police Department, will be inducted as an inaugural member of the new Harris-Stowe State University Athletic Hall of Fame. She was selected for excellence and leadership on and off the basketball court at her alma mater.

Thomas Ciesielski, MD, an associate professor in the John T. Milliken Department of Medicine at WashU Medicine, has been named the 2026–27 Presidential Fellow in Healthcare Safety and Quality by Joint Commission, a national accrediting organization.

Sociologist Elizabeth Chiarello, in WashU Arts & Sciences, was honored by both the American Sociological Association and the Institute for Advanced Study for her work at the intersection of patient care and criminal justice.

A movie trailer, local TV spot and documentaries produced by WashU Medicine Marketing & Communications recently won medals in the Telly awards, an international contest honoring excellence in TV and video production.

Recent WashU Brown School graduate Mustafa Rfat is a 2026–27 Clifford Roberts Fellow. The prestigious Gettysburg College fellowship recognizes outstanding doctoral students whose research reflects President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s legacy of leadership and service.

The Danforth Staff Council at WashU has added new members and elected its executive officers for the new academic year.