WashU Experts

The Chinese space agency announced Dec. 16 the return of a lunar probe bringing back the first fresh samples of rock and debris from the moon in more than 40 years. Bradley L. Jolliff, the Scott Rudolph Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, reflects on the scientific value of the samples.

Olin Business School’s Todd Gormley discusses his research on efforts to increase gender diversity on governance boards through shareholder pressure, and the potential impact of a new policy proposed by Nasdaq.

The cold, hard fact is: Pfizer blazed a trail in creating a touted COVID-19 vaccine, but now it must help to equally pioneer an unprecedented way to distribute the drug across the United States and the globe, says a supply chain expert at Washington University in St. Louis.

On Nov. 7, Joe Biden was declared the winner in Pennsylvania, making him president-elect of the United States. Yet it had been clear since Americans went to the polls Nov. 3 that Biden would win the popular vote. The days of uncertainty and drama were entirely due to the arcane and archaic mechanics of the Electoral College, says Rachel Brown, an assistant professor at Washington University in St. Louis.

After the contentious 2020 presidential election, Washington University in St. Louis faculty experts offer their predictions and perspectives on the legal battle ensuing, the election process, the transition of power and the future for both President-elect Joe Biden’s administration and President Donald Trump’s.

Blues singer Kim Massie, who died Oct. 12, was a beloved figure in St. Louis — a grandmother of six who held court downtown twice each week for more than two decades. Washington University’s Paige McGinley, who wrote about Massie in her 2014 book “Staging the Blues,” remembers the singer.

Three experts from the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis weigh in on President Trump’s record, the state of the economy and what to expect from a second Trump term or a Biden administration.

According to Lerone A. Martin, director of American Culture Studies and associate professor of religion and politics and of African and African-American studies, all in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, modern evangelical voters have supported political candidates for myriad reasons, not all of which are in line with traditional Christian values.

Four and a half feet — as long as debaters are at least this far apart, with airflow directed back at them, the risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 is minimal to none, say researchers at Washington University in St. Louis.

Questions about Amy Coney Barrett’s religious affiliation and beliefs have dominated public discussion since President Trump announced that she was his pick to fill the U.S. Supreme Court seat left vacant by Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing. While her Catholicism is considered controversial by some, should it impact her confirmation? A Washington University in St. Louis law professor weighs in.