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ShiNung Ching, an expert in neuroengineering, has been named chair of the Preston M. Green Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering.

WashU is accepting applications for its innovative College Prep Program, a no-cost, multi-year program that prepares first-generation, limited-income students for college. CPP scholars take college courses, prepare for the ACT, learn about the financial aid process and visit nearby universities and cultural institutions.

Ron Himes, the Henry E. Hampton Jr. Artist-in-Residence in Arts & Sciences and founder of the St. Louis Black Repertory Company, has won a Lifetime Achievement Award from New York theater group AUDELCO.

Benjamin Garcia, the Raymond H. Wittcoff Distinguished Professor and head of the WashU Medicine Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, has received the American Chemical Society’s 2025 Saint Louis Section Award.

The Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management has recognized Shiran Victoria Shen, an assistant professor of political science in Arts & Sciences, for her environment policy research.

The Skandalaris Center for Interdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Washington University in St. Louis awarded $33,000 in funding to six student-founded startups at its fall Venture Competition.

Robert E. Hegel, in Arts & Sciences, has won the Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize from the Modern Language Association of America for his translation of “The Heroic Adventures of Qin Shubao,” from “Forgotten Tales of the Sui” by Chinese dramatist and writer Yuan Yuling (1599–1674).

WashU faculty and research staff can apply for the 2026 Digital Transformation Research Corps, a summer program from the Digital Intelligence & Innovation Accelerator that pairs research teams with student developers and data scientists. Applications are due Jan. 15.

WashU Medicine researchers show that psychedelic compounds such as psilocybin appear to distort the link between blood flow and brain-cell functioning, which scientists use to track brain activity.

Images from on and around the WashU campuses.