Washington People

Nick S. Argyres, PhD, the Vernon W. and Marion K. Piper Professor of Strategy at Olin Business School, straddles two worlds, balancing his role as professor and researcher with his position as senior associate dean of faculty.

Ken Yamaguchi, MD, the Sam and Marilyn Fox Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, fixes shoulders and elbows. Although many think of rotator cuff tears affecting athletes, almost 50 percent of people over age 70 have rotator cuff tears, either with or without pain.

Molly Tovar, EdD, director of the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies at the Brown School, lives her life by four Rs: Relationships, Responsibilities, Reciprocity and Redistribution. “Redistribution is the sharing obligation. Its primary purpose is to balance and rebalance relationships,” she says.

Steve Sobo, director of design and construction, at the School of Medicine, oversees construction of new buildings and remodeling of existing facilities. His relaxed, direct communication style helps his projects go smoothly. “There’s a frank friendliness about Steve,” says Jim Walsh, a principal at Cannon Design. “He has an ability to bring together individuals to get a job done, and he also charts a clear, concise path.”

Tom Bernatowicz, PhD, professor of physics in Arts & Sciences, began at WUSTL studying stardust, tiny crystals of material that formed around dying red giant stars or in exploding supernovae. While he remains interested in these tiny grains, lately he has been devoting much of his time to creating an introductory physics course that is so lively and engaging the students leave understanding why physicists are so passionate about their work.

Jack Engsberg, PhD, took his love of track and field into a study of movement that helps people with cerebral palsy regain mobility. He uses video games as therapy and has been working to teach therapists to create customized games for clients.

Many modern copies of Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, Book I, Canto IV, include the phrase “glitter and light” when describing the beauty of Queen Lucifera. But is that the phrase Spenser intended to depict the self-proclaimed monarch? This is one of many questions that Joseph Loewenstein, PhD, tackles as an editor of a new Oxford Edition of the Collected Works of Edmund Spenser.

Raphael Kopan, PhD, professor of developmental biology in the School of Medicine, is addicted to discovery. Growing up on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, he discovered snakes, butterflies and bits of ancient pottery. Today, his discoveries continue in his lab, working to understand how cells communicate.

Location. Budget. Materials. Architecture is the art of negotiating constraints — to say nothing of clients, zoning and the unique history and particular characteristics of a given place. “There’s no such thing as a blank slate,” says Kathryn Dean, a principal of Dean/Wolf Architects in New York and director of the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts. 

Peter Burgers, PhD, the Marvin A. Brennecke Professor of Biological Chemistry at the School of Medicine, is an expert in DNA replication and repair — fundamental cellular processes shared across organisms, from yeast to humans.