Arts & Sciences

The charge was ambitious. Conditions were complicated. The results have been transformative. Here’s how the Lewis Collaborative reinvented a century-old University City landmark.

A team based in the Department of Biology in Arts & Sciences recently won a $50,000 Driving Change Learning Grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). The grant aims to support institutional culture change with respect to diversity, equity and inclusion, among other things.

David Fike, professor of earth and planetary sciences and director of environmental studies, both in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, won a $98,406 EAGER Grant from the National Science Foundation for a project in geobiology and low-temperature geochemistry.

This week, Class Acts celebrates three leaders in research — Churchill Scholar Jessika Baral, Spencer T. Olin Fellow Chelsey Carter and U.S Army veteran Alex Reiter.

Washington University in St. Louis alumnus and emeritus trustee John Dains has made an $8 million commitment to support an undergraduate student success fund at his alma mater, announced Chancellor Andrew D. Martin. It dramatically increases funding available to help students with financial need cover emergency and educational enrichment expenses.

William M. Boothby, professor emeritus of mathematics in Arts & Sciences, died Feb. 14 in Nashville, Tenn. He was 102.

The Women’s Society of Washington University announced the winners of the Harriet K. Switzer Leadership Award and the Elizabeth Gray Danforth Scholarships during the group’s annual membership meeting April 20. The group honored Ida Early with a fund and a named event.

People rarely have just one motivation to do something. New research from the lab of Todd Braver at Washington University in St. Louis suggests how, and where, they combine.

Some plants like ginkgo trees have either male or female flowers, not both. Susanne Renner, honorary professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, reviewed the genetic basis of sex determination in plants for Nature Plants and will guest-edit a special issue of a Royal Society journal on the topic.

Welcome back to Class Acts, a celebration of the Class of 2021. This week, we spotlight advocates Leah Wren Hardgrove, Logan Phillips and Alexis Tinoco, three seniors working to make a difference.