Washington People

Even as a child growing up in north St. Louis County, WashU junior Precious Barry was aware that society often underestimates young people from communities like hers. Yet Barry defied expectations and earned admissions to dozens of colleges, including a full-ride scholarship to WashU.

Wilmetta Toliver-Diallo never stops her work on behalf of students. When she is not helping students apply for competitive fellowships, she is lecturing in the Department of African and African American Studies. And when she is not mentoring Mellon Mays fellows, she’s co-hosting dinners for her neighbors on the South 40.

WashU biology graduate student Jhan Carlos Salazar, in Arts & Sciences, has made high-impact — and high-altitude — discoveries about the adaptations of lizards in his home country of Colombia. He works with Jonathan Losos, the William H. Danforth Distinguished University Professor.

Juliane Bubeck Wardenburg, MD, PhD, at WashU Medicine, brings empathy and compassion to families with children in critical care. She also is working on strategies to prevent staph infections in infants.

Monika Weiss, a professor of art at WashU’s Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, was trained in piano but then branched into visual art and beyond. Her works encompass many formats and senses. She recently installed “Metamorphosis (Sound Sculpture),” at St. Louis’ Laumeier Sculpture Park.

Trained as an engineer, Janie Brennan, a senior lecturer at the WashU McKelvey School of Engineering, now builds courses instead of machines. She’s using her classroom to peel away systemic and cultural barriers to engineering. 

Olin Business School’s Dennis Zhang says online platform design is improved by considering human decision-making alongside information algorithms.

Hematologist Amy Zhou, MD, an associate professor at the School of Medicine, values the connections she makes with patients. She is also pursuing research to improve blood cancer treatments.

Postdoctoral research scholar Sade Williams Clayton works to advocate and build community for postdoctoral research trainees and others. She recently received a national award from the National Postdoctoral Association for her efforts.

Caitlyn Collins, an associate professor of sociology in Arts & Sciences, has focused her career on researching and advocating for policy solutions for working mothers and their families. Now that she’s a working mother herself, her work has new meaning.