Arts & Sciences

Alejandro Ramirez arrived at WashU as a pre-med student, but will leave with a Fulbright Scholarship to conduct research in Brazil. Patricia Maurer will graduate with a PhD in Germanic languages and literatures but wants to support students academically and professionally as a higher education administrator. Both will reflect on their experiences as student speakers at the 163rd Commencement ceremony.

Caitlyn Collins, an associate professor of sociology in Arts & Sciences, has focused her career on researching and advocating for policy solutions for working mothers and their families. Now that she’s a working mother herself, her work has new meaning.

Washington University’s new National Academy of Sciences members are Michael S. Diamond, MD, PhD, the Herbert S. Gasser Professor of Medicine at the School of Medicine, and David C. Queller, the Spencer T. Olin Professor of Biology in Arts & Sciences.

Undergraduates Hannah Davis, Shelei Pan, Braxton Sizemore and Shan Wang were honored by the Department of Biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.

Being a predator has its own costs, and that’s as true for amoebae as it is for lions or wolves. Graduate student P.M. Shreenidhi joined David Queller and other Art & Sciences researchers to study the predatory nature of a particular soil-dwelling amoeba.

Jordan Simmons, a senior majoring in global studies in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, was selected as a 2024 Donald M. Payne International Development Fellow. The program is aimed at those interested in careers in the Foreign Service of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Jonathan Fenderson, an associate professor of African and African American studies in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has won a 2024 New Directions Fellowship from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Entering WashU, Lauren Bruhl knew she wanted to study the environment. Her childhood in rural New Jersey, where she explored its protected woodlands, helped cultivate her love for the environment, while her high school studies in Portugal, where she studied renewable energy, catalyzed her academic interest in reducing our carbon footprint. Now, the soon-to-be graduate of Arts & Sciences is ready to put her passion and skills into practice.

On a recent visit to Pakistan, Omaer Naeem could literally taste the smog. Naeem, who is set to graduate with a degree in global students from Arts & Studies at Washington University in St. Louis, is committed to working with local communities in South Asia find their own solutions to this existential crisis.

Yunfeng Ge is an avid bird and nature lover. Her extensive research and volunteer work has prepared her for life after graduation. She plans to pursue conservation work and eventually attend graduate school to study ecology.