Record

The Bear Necessities store, located in Umrath House on the South 40, will hold its annual holiday sale Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 13 and 14. The store will offer 15 percent off its entire stock of regular-priced WUSTL logo items and an additional 15 percent off already marked-down prices on all clearance items. The sale will be held from 9:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Dec. 13 and from 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Dec. 14.

The Washington University Police Department and Parking Services, in partnership with Hartmann’s Towing, once again will sponsor a free Traveler’s Vehicle Inspection service to WUSTL students, faculty and staff from noon-2:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10. Persons anticipating traveling by car for winter break can bring their vehicle to the lower level of Millbrook Garage in the early afternoon for a free inspection.

Most WUSTL faculty members teach a variety of courses to both graduate and undergraduate students but can have limited opportunities to discuss teaching with colleagues outside of their department. WUSTL offers i teach, its biennial symposium on teaching, to provide such an opportunity. The 2012 i teach symposium will take place Thursday, Jan. 12, from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at Seigle Hall on the Danforth Campus. It is free and open to all WUSTL faculty members.

Lingchei Letty Chen, PhD, associate professor of modern Chinese language and literature in Arts & Sciences, expresses creativity through writing, teaching, organizing international conferences or, most recently, helping launch the university’s new study abroad program at Fudan University in Shanghai as the program’s academic adviser. 

At the December meeting of the Washington University Board of Trustees Dec. 1 and 2, trustees discussed the university’s innovation and entrepreneurial focus and programs, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. The board also elected a new trustee. Robert W. Frick, former vice chairman of the board of Bank of America and currently actively involved with young entrepreneurial companies in the San Francisco Bay Area, was elected as a new Ethan A.H. Shepley Trustee for a four-year term ending December 2015.

Nominations now are being accepted for the annual Gerry & Bob Virgil Ethic of Service Award, which honors members of the WUSTL community who exemplify a character of service and giving to the St. Louis region. The deadline for submissions is 5 p.m. Feb. 3.

WUSTL senior Ashley D. Brosius and Fidel Desir, a 2010 graduate of WUSTL, were finalists for Rhodes Scholarships. Brosius and Desir were among 210 finalists from across the United States for the scholarship for graduate study at the University of Oxford in England. Rhodes Scholars are selected on the basis of their undergraduate academic achievements, personal integrity, leadership potential and physical vigor.

The following are among the new faculty members at Washington University: Joseph Cullen, PhD; Amr Farahat, PhD; Exequiel Hernández, PhD; Baojun Jiang, PhD; Ping C. Lieser, PhD; Asaf Manela, PhD; Matthew Ringgenberg, PhD; and Adina Sterling, PhD. Others will be introduced periodically.

Washington University’s Department of Music in Arts & Sciences will present its annual sing-along of George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Messiah at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11, in Graham Chapel. Nicole Aldrich, director of choral activities, directs the program. The performance, which lasts about an hour, will include the Christmas portion of Messiah as well as the “Hallelujah Chorus.”

Parinaz Massoumzadeh, PhD, staff scientist in the Department of Radiology, was one of eight American women chosen to participate in a U.S.-Brazil exchange program to recruit, retain and advance women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.