The Class of 2015: ready to graduate

Surrounded by more than 12,000 family, friends, faculty, staff, administrators and university trustees, the Class of 2015 will enter Brookings Quadrangle on the Danforth Campus at 8:30 a.m. as degree candidates and leave as graduates after Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton confers their degrees.

Senior Class President Jeremy Sherman’s message to WashU’s 2015 graduates

Washington University in St. Louis Senior Class President Jeremy Sherman’s message to the graduating Class of 2015 can be found here. Sherman, from West Bloomfield, Mich., earned a bachelor of science in business administration degree from the Olin Business School with a second major in political science from the College of Arts & Sciences.

Chancellor Wrighton’s message to the graduates

“Thank you for what you have done so far, but you have raised my expectations through your successes,” said Chancellor Mark Wrighton, at Washington University in St. Louis’ 2015 Commencement. “The future of the world depends on you!”

Klingensmith new president of Association for Surgical Education

Mary Klingensmith, MD, the Mary Culver Distinguished Professor and vice chair for education in the Department of Surgery, was installed as president of the Association for Surgical Education (ASE) at the organization’s annual meeting in Seattle.

Diabetes drug may reduce heart attack risk in HIV patients

A diabetes drug may have benefits beyond lower blood sugar in patients with HIV. New research from the laboratory of Kevin E. Yarasheski, PhD, suggests the drug may prevent cardiovascular problems because it works to reduce inflammation that is linked to heart disease and stroke in these patients. The drug both improved metabolism and reduced inflammation in HIV-positive adults on antiretroviral therapy.

Student Nwumeh wins undergraduate science award

Ron Nwumeh, a junior studying biology and research assistant in the lab of Joseph Jez, PhD, in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, recently received the 2015 Merck Undergraduate Science Research Scholarship Award.

Biologist Strader receives CAREER award from NSF

Lucia Strader, PhD, assistant professor of biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has received a five-year, $866,000 CAREER award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for research titled “Roles for Indole-3-butyric Acid in Plant Development.”