Arts & Sciences

David M. Holtzman, a leading expert in researching the underlying mechanisms that lead to Alzheimer’s disease, and Paul Michael Lützeler, an authority on 18th, 19th and 20th century German literature, will receive Washington University in St. Louis’ 2015 faculty achievement awards, Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton announced.

​Recalling long lists of random words, numbers and playing cards will be the challenge this weekend as two dozen of the world’s top memory athletes square off in San Diego for the 2015 Extreme Memory Tournament, an annual competition sponsored by Washington University in St. Louis and Dart NeuroScience.

This spring, the schools of Engineering & Applied Science, Arts & Sciences and the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis launched “The Sustainability Exchange,” a unique course bringing students from across campus together to work on interdisciplinary teams to tackle real-world challenges in energy, environment and sustainability.

A demographic study of two endangered plants at Point Reyes National Seashore north of San Francisco shows that they favor  recently disturbed open areas over areas that have established plant cover. The study strengthens the case for removing the beachgrass originally planted to stabilize the dunes and allowing the sand to move in response to storm surges and strong tides.

James L. Gibson, PhD, the Sidney W. Souers Professor of Government in the Department of Political Science in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, received a grant of more than $225,000 from the National Science Foundation for his project titled “Collaborative Research: Testing Models of Representation and Institutional Design in the State Courts’ Consideration of Inequality.”

Adam Schefkind has been selected to receive the 2015 Harrison D. Stalker Award from the Department of Biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.

This year, the Spector Prize, given by the Department of Biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has been awarded to Will Pierson. Pierson worked in the lab of Hani Zaher, PhD, assistant professor of biology.

In 1976, as a business major at Washington University in St. Louis, Ron Himes began staging theatrical performances. Thirty-eight seasons later, Himes remains founder and producing director for The Black Rep, one of the nation’s largest and most respected African-American theater companies.

Washington University in St. Louis graduate student Andrea Karl found herself thrust into the national spotlight this month at the St. Louis GO! Marathon when an imposter at the finish line denied Karl her first-place accolades. She got to recreate the finish at Busch Stadium. Karl is working towards a PhD in molecular genetics and genomics in the Division of Biology & Biomedical Sciences (DBBS) at the School of Medicine. DBBS is in the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.

Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis recognized five alumni during its 17th annual Arts & Sciences Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony, held March 19 at The Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis. Barbara A. Schaal, PhD, dean of the faculty of Arts & Sciences and the Mary-Dell Chilton Distinguished Professor, hosted the awards dinner.