Notables

Ron Cytron, PhD, professor of computer science and engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science at Washington University in St. Louis, has been awarded a 2014 Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award.

Eighty-one staff members in the Facilities Management Department at Washington University School of Medicine recently earned the title of Facility Management Professional (FMP) from the International Facility Management Association. The department set a national record by having so many employees earn this title in less than four months. Professionals who become FMPs complete a series of comprehensive exams covering four areas: operations and maintenance, project management, finance and business, and leadership and strategy.

Anesthesiology researchers Robert Gereau, PhD, (left) and Michael Bruchas, PhD, (right) have received one of only 11 DECODE (Deciphering Circuit Basis of Disease) grants to be awarded. The awards were announced at a ceremony featuring Thomas Insel, MD, (center) director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

Christopher “Kit” Wellman, PhD, chair of the Department of Philosophy, has won the 2015 Berger Memorial Prize, awarded to an outstanding published article in philosophy of law.

Heidi Prather, DO, professor and chief of physical medicine and rehabilitation, has been named president of the North American Spine Society (NASS). She is the first woman elected to the position.

Molly Tovar, EdD, director of the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies and professor of practice in the Brown School, has received a $710,505, three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for her project, “Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training for Professionals and Paraprofessionals.”

Matt Erlin, PhD, chair of the Department of Germanic Languages & Literatures in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, is a co-investigator on a multi-university digital humanities initiative called NovelTM.

L. Lewis Wall, MD, DPhil (right), has received a gold medal for his “meritorius contributions” to medical education at Mekelle University College of Medical and Health Sciences in Mekelle, Ethiopia. He is a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Washington University School of Medicine and of anthropology in Arts & Sciences.

Paul Steinbeck, PhD, assistant professor of music theory and composition in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, recently attended the Mizzou Improvisation Festival at the University of Missouri-Columbia and — and even had one of his works performed.

Alexander Stefaniak, PhD, assistant professor of musicology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, was invited to present his paper, “Brilliant, Transcendent Virtuosity in Clara Wieck Schumann’s 1830s Concerts” at the American Musicological Society Annual Meeting (held jointly with the Society for Music Theory), in Milwaukee in early November.