Bingham named director of Family Learning Center

Ann Bingham has been named director of the WUSTL Family Learning Center, an on-campus 19,900-square-foot child-care center scheduled to open Sept. 7. The Family Learning Center is being built on the North Campus and will offer care for 156 children of faculty, staff and students from the ages of 6 weeks to 6 years.

WUSTL postdoctoral fellow appointed Congressional Science Fellow

At last count there were three physics PhDs in Congress, five science PhDs total, and 228 senators and congressmen with law degrees. WUSTL postdoctoral fellow in physics Chris Spitzer, who has just been named a Congressional Science Fellow for 2010-2011, is off to Washington to learn and observe but also to do what he can to make sure national policy in areas such as energy and the environment reflects current scientific understanding.

A new world record

A new Guinness World Record was set May 16 at the Athletic Complex as 710 WUSTL seniors and administrators formed the longest human shoulder massage chain in history. The previous record of 617 people was set in January in Canada. Students will submit the event to Guinness for verification and to be listed on the organization’s website as an official world record.

Cramer named assistant dean of graduate programs in law

Peter K. Cramer, PhD, has been named new assistant dean of graduate programs in the School of Law at Washington University in St. Louis. His duties include coordinating recruitment, admissions and placement of the law school’s graduate programs and for the day-to-day operations of those programs. This summer, the law school is launching a new executive LLM program co-taught by law faculty at WUSTL and Korea University. 

Expert says U.S. Senate needs to reform its rules

Steven Smith, director of the Weidenbaum Center and political science professor is calling for filibuster reform in the U.S. Senate.  And he’s taking his message to Capitol hill.Smith is participating in a conference sponsored by the Weidenbaum Center and the Brookings Institution on the “State of the Senate” May 17 in Washington D.C. On May 19, Smith will testify before the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration to argue his case for reform of the rules that are obstructing and restricting the legislative role of the Senate.

Let the celebration begin!

Commencement week begins Monday, May 17, with a variety of celebrations and ceremonies designed to warmly send Washington University in St. Louis graduates out into the world.

First impressions

As an undergraduate pre-med student, Danielle Bristow worked as a tour guide for the University of the Pacific, welcoming prospective students and their families to her campus. The idea that Bristow would one day find a career in making people feel welcome didn’t occur to her. Not at first, anyway.