Arts & Sciences

If mental illness runs in your family, your genetic makeup may also make you more likely to use drugs and alcohol, suggests new research from Washington University in St. Louis.

In a serendipitous moment, scientists studying light sensing molecules in plants have discovered that they are also temperature sensors.The discovery may eventually allow them to design crop varieties that are better able to cope with a warming world.

William J. Maxwell, professor of English and of African and African-American studies in Arts & Sciences, has won a 2016 American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation for “F.B. Eyes: How J. Edgar Hoover’s Ghostreaders Framed African American Literature” (2015).

Carol Camp Yeakey, a professor of education, of urban studies, of international and area studies and of American culture studies, all in Arts & Sciences, has been named the Marshall S. Snow Professor in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.

The American Physical Society and the American Institute of Physics this month awarded the 2017 Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics to Carl M. Bender of Washington University in St. Louis .

Carl Phillips, professor of English in Arts & Sciences, has won the 2016 poetry award from PEN Center USA for “Reconnaissance,” his latest collection.

New conductor Horst Buchholz and new director of strings Amy Greenhalgh will make their debuts with the Washington University Symphony Orchestra Oct. 30. The concert will take place at The E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall in the 560 Music Center.

Matt Erlin, professor and chair of Germanic languages and literatures in Arts & Sciences, has won the 2016 prize for best book in “Germanistik,” or cultural studies, from the German Academic Exchange Service.

The International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES) has named David Fike associate director and an I-CARES professor.

Eliotte Henderson, AB ’10, has appeared as a dancer and singer on the Grammy’s and the MTV Video Music Awards, served as a background vocalist for The X-Factor and traveled the globe — twice — as a member of Taylor Swift’s band.