Record

Gary K. Ackers, PhD, professor emeritus, died from problems related to early-onset Alzheimer’s disease Friday, May 20, 2011, in Oro Valley, Ariz. He was 71.

Missouri in July is hot, hot, hot, but not as hot as Ritmo Caliente, one of St. Louis’ premier Latin jazz-fusion bands. On July 7, Ritmo Caliente will launch Washington University’s annual Jazz in July series with a free performance. Sponsored as part of the larger Jazz at Holmes series, Jazz in July will feature four local ensembles performing Thursday evenings throughout the month in the cool, coffeehouse-style setting of Holmes Lounge. 

WUSTL’s Summer School in Arts & Sciences will present a film series celebrating Frankenstein movies, “It’s Alive! A Celebration of Frankenstein Films,” this June and July. Each film will be introduced by a WUSTL scholar specializing in the genres of cinematic horror and literary monsters. All screenings are free and open to the public.

Umrath Hall will close June 20 for a complete renovation of the interior of the building and a new roof and roofing structure. It is scheduled to reopen in June 2012.

Howard Benjamin Rudnick, a history and economics major in Arts & Sciences, has been named the winner of the 2011 William Miles Prize at Washington University in St. Louis.

Undergraduate student leaders and student groups who actively demonstrate exemplary leadership, service and commitment to the campus community were recognized during the Excellence in Leadership Awards ceremony, held May 1 in Holmes Lounge, Ridgley Hall. The Office of Student Involvement and Leadership organized the event.

The Gateway Festival Orchestra will launch its 48th season of free Sunday-evening concerts July 10 with Various Variations, a program exploring the use of variations by a handful of composers from the Baroque period through the 20th century. Subsequent performances will take place July 17, 24 and 31.

As part of its commitment to developing entrepreneurs, this summer the Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies will host 25 undergraduate interns at local commercial and social startup ventures. The interns will host panel discussions from 2:30-4 p.m. each Friday during the summer.

With the email of Wednesday, June 8, Washington University in St. Louis presents a redesigned Record, the official faculty and staff electronic publication of the university. Changes include a redesign of the Record email that includes links to regular Record features such as Washington People, Obituaries and Sports. It also includes redesigned features such as Notables and In the Spotlight, and a WUSTL in the News section with links to university stories on a national level.

Hannah Highfill, a master’s degree student in Islamic studies in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has received a 2011 U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) to study Persian in Tajikistan this summer. Highfill is among approximately 575 U.S. undergraduate and graduate students from more than 5,200 applicants selected to receive a CLS scholarship.