Washington People

Brown School social work student Luther Tyus spent nearly a decade as a St. Louis-area police officer. Now, he is studying both policy solutions and ways to improve officer training to address excessive use of force by police.

Jennifer M. Hudson, program manager for the Washington University Prison Education Project, discusses the project, its animating philosophy and the importance of the liberal arts.

Patrick Jay, MD, PhD, (center), is a pediatric cardiologist at the School of Medicine. He is studying the genetic and environmental roots of congenital heart defects, in hopes of finding ways to prevent them.

Sheretta Butler Barnes, assistant professor in the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, focuses her research on structural racism and inequalities in education. In this video, she talks about her motivation and her work, including a program to encourage girls of color in STEM subjects.

Anthony J. Azama, the John M. Schael Director of Athletics at Washington University, has been on the job a little more than three months. But he’s already developed a rapport with the student athletes, and he has a clear vision where he wants to help them go.

Get to know Stephens, the new vice provost and university librarian, who brings a wealth of experience and a forward-looking vision to University Libraries. She discusses how the research library is like a laboratory, evolving technology and plans for adding to the collection.

Noted researcher Sarah England, the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Professor of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, encourages those in her lab to embrace tenacity and tackle new challenges. She researches ion channels and their effects on pregnancy and preterm birth.

Nancy Y. Reynolds and Anne-Marie McManus, both of Arts & Sciences, discuss the environmental humanities and their new Mellon Sawyer Seminar, “Grounding the Ecocritical.”

Laura Cobb was struck by a drunken driver during her senior year at Washington University in 2008. She was seriously injured and today has aphasia, which severely limits her ability to speak. But she battled back, returned to school and graduated in May. She now works as a research technician on campus.

Chemical engineer Jay Turner, of the School of Engineering & Applied Science, has spent his career studying air quality, working to identify risks and solutions to improve the air from St. Louis to Hong Kong. He also recently became engineering’s vice dean for education.