Arts & Sciences

Scientists attending a workshop at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory  slipped the leash of scientific caution and tried to imagine what they would do if they could redesign plants at will. The ideas they dreamed up may make the difference between full bellies and empty ones in the near future when population may outrun the ability of traditional plant breeding to increase yields.

​Washington University in St. Louis rising senior Jacques de Villiers died July 3, 2015, of cancer. He was 21. Diagnosed with cancer as a high school student in Cleveland, De Villiers arrived at Washington University ready to engage in campus life. He studied economics and biomedical physics, played club hockey, joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and cooked elaborate meals for friends.

In an effort to increase diversity in the neurosciences, Washington University in St. Louis has received a five-year, $1.5 million federal grant to participate in a national pipeline program with that mission.

A new publication, “Who’s Who Diversity in Color,” recently released its inaugural edition. The publication highlights minorities from the St. Louis region who have positively influenced their workplace or community, and eight faculty and staff members of Washington University in St. Louis are featured in the publication.

Thomas Ferkol, who graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in May with a bachelor’s degree in psychology in Arts & Sciences, and studied writing and music throughout his undergraduate career, was accepted into the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM)’s summer film-scoring program.

​Costas Azariadis, PhD, an economist at Washington University in St. Louis, is currently in Greece. A native of Athens, Azariadis emailed his observations and insights into the turmoil and what might be next.​

For 20 summers now, students of all ages and from all walks of life have gathered on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis to write, read, write, read and write some more. The Summer Writers Institute, an intensive, two-week writing seminar that is part summer camp, part MFA-level instruction, is thriving after two decades.

As floodwaters surge along major rivers in the midwestern United States, a new study from Washington University in St. Louis suggests federal agencies are underestimating historic 100-year flood levels on these rivers by as much as five feet, a miscalculation that has serious implications for future flood risks, flood insurance, and business development in an expanding floodplain.

At the Washington University in St. Louis Board of Trustees meeting May 1, several faculty members were appointed with tenure or promoted with tenure, effective July 1 unless otherwise indicated.

World-renowned author William H. Gass, the David May Distinguished University Professor Emeritus in the Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis, recently was awarded the William Dean Howells Medal for his novel “Middle C.”