Tracy Collins, who earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature from WUSTL, returns to his alma mater after 20 years at the Creative Producers Group, a St. Louis-based agency. As WUSTL’s first senior creative director, Collins will help communicate the university’s brand through words and imagery.
Renowned author and art historian Udo Kultermann, who taught architecture at WUSTL for nearly 30 years, died Feb. 9, 2013, in New York City, following a long illness. He was 85.
Lawyers recently have gained attention by seeking restitution from individuals convicted of viewing or downloading exploitative photos of children. “This ‘pay-per-view’ system further commodifies victims,” says Cortney Lollar, JD, clinical faculty at Washington University in St. Louis. She says that two key changes are in order: move from the current restitution system to the creation of a child pornography crime victims’ compensation fund, and devote more resources to preventing child sexual abuse.
Washington University in St. Louis’ Institute for School Partnership (ISP) and its signature science education program, MySci, take a major step forward Monday, Feb. 18, when they open the MySci Resource Center at 6601 Vernon Ave. Refurbished with the help of a $2.2 million grant from the Monsanto Fund, the MySci Resource Center becomes the nerve center of the ISP, WUSTL’s signature effort to strategically improve teaching and learning within the K-12 education community in the St. Louis region.
Faculty, staff and students are invited to enroll in “Be the Match,” a national bone marrow registry, at various times and locations on Wednesday, Feb. 13. Registration takes only 20 minutes and a cheek swab, and no appointment is necessary.
Cindy Brantmeier, PhD, associate professor of Spanish and applied linguistics in Arts & Sciences, was recently honored as Washington University’s recipient of the 2012 Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award. The annual award from Emerson recognizes top educators from the St. Louis region for their passion for teaching, their impact on student learning and their knowledge and creativity.
Four researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are being honored as outstanding scientists by the Academy of Science of St. Louis.
A Washington University retina specialist is one of 10 U.S. scientists selected by the National Eye Institute for an innovative project to improve or restore vision. The winning proposal from vitreoretinal surgery fellow Rajesh C. Rao, MD, was chosen from nearly 500 entries. Rao was the youngest winner in the national competition.
The new Stamps Leadership Scholarship will award the full cost of undergraduate attendance to an average of five incoming freshmen each year. This unique program also includes an enrichment fund of $10,000 per student to be used over four years to pay for outside-the-classroom educational experiences such as study abroad, research or unpaid internships.
While it is not unprecedented for a pope to resign from his position, it is unprecedented for a pope to resign for health reasons — as Pope Benedict XVI plans to do at the end of the month — says a leading historian of religion at Washington University in St. Louis. Daniel M. Bornstein, PhD, the Stella Koetter Darrow Professor in Catholic Studies at Washington University in St. Louis, says that Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation stands out as different from previous ones, but not simply because of his medical reasons. “Previous resignations either resulted from or led to grave crises in leadership. I do not see either of those as a concern in this case,”
Bornstein says.