Notables

Three faculty members from WashU’s Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts — Chandler Ahrens, Constance Vale and Kelley Van Dyck Murphy — have been named University Design Research Fellows for the 2024-25 cycle of Exhibit Columbus.

Biologist Elizabeth Carlen, a postdoctoral fellow with the Living Earth Collaborative at WashU, received a 2024 Spark Award from the Association for Women in Science. The Spark Award highlights students or early-career leaders in STEM who are visible and vocal advocates for diversity and inclusive scientific practices.

Two WashU PhD candidates have been selected for the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education Inc. Graduate Student Fellows Program. The students, Allison Martinez Mejia and Gerson Moreno Romero, are both studying biomedical engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering. 

Leah Shaffer, a senior news director at WashU, has been elected to serve on the board of directors of the National Association of Science Writers.

Benjamin Garcia, the Raymond H. Wittcoff Distinguished Professor and head of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at WashU Medicine, has been named an American Chemical Society fellow, one of 37 in this year’s class of fellows.

Abram Van Engen, chair of the Department of English in Arts & Sciences, was recently installed as the Stanley Elkin Professor in the Humanities.

Rohit V. Pappu, a researcher at Washington University, has been selected as an American Physical Society fellow.

Mary Jo Bang, a professor of English in Arts & Sciences, will receive the 2024 Tradition of Literary Excellence Award from the University City Municipal Commission on Arts & Letters.

Thomas Nickolas, MD, a respected clinical nephrologist and researcher focused on kidney disease and bone health, has been named the next director of the Division of Bone and Mineral Diseases in the Department of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

The Human Rights Campaign’s Healthcare Equality Index has recognized Student Health Center – Danforth Campus and the Center for Counseling and Psychological Services for their ongoing commitment to providing inclusive and gender-affirming care to all students.