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Washington editors past and present gathered at the Whittemore House to say good-bye to their longtime mentor, Mary Ellen Benson (center), who served as the magazine’s executive editor 1987–2012.

Student-athlete Liz Phillips, Engineering Class of ’12, is a force to be reckoned with. While carrying a 4.0 grade-point average as a biomedical engineering major, she captured national recognition for her athletic prowess.

A recent study at the School of Medicine ­reveals that children whose parents nurtured them early in life develop brains with a larger hippocampus. A key structure, the hippocampus aids in learning, memory and response to stress.

Morrow-Howell, the Ralph and Muriel Pumphrey Professor of Social Work, hopes to establish more interdisciplinary projects across the university and extend the Center for Aging’s reach around the world.

The rising of the full Moon over ­Brookings Hall Fri., April 6, was glorious. The April full Moon is known as the Pink Moon, a name that comes from the herb moss pink, also known as wild ground phlox, which is one of our earliest widespread flowers of spring. Other names for the April full Moon are the ­Sprouting Grass Moon and the Egg Moon. (See the Far Side Illuminates Mysteries of the Moon feature to learn about ongoing research regarding the Moon’s far side.)

Each April, students, faculty, staff, neighbors, and alumni and their ­children ­enjoy Thurtene Carnival. Coinciding with Alumni ­Weekend, this year’s carnival, “Around the World in Thurtene Days,” aimed to bridge old and new friends.

Washington University held its 151st Commencement Fri., May 18. As the morning sun shone brightly on Brookings Quadrangle, the ceremony was one to remember.

Richard Mahoney’s life mirrors a piece of powerful advice his father bestowed on him while he was growing up in Springfield, Mass. Mahoney recalls: “He told me, ‘Richard, the first third of your life — learn. The second third — earn, and the last third you return.’”

Outside of Miami, Greater Boston boasts one of the largest Haitian-American populations in the United States. When local community leaders told Boston attorney Vikas S. Dhar, AB ’99, of Haiti’s sexual violence and trafficking issues, his law firm took action.