Arts & Sciences

PakrasiThe International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES) at Washington University will operate under the direction of Himadri B. Pakrasi, Ph.D., the George William and Irene Koechig Freiberg professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, and professor of energy in the School of Engineering.

June 4, 2007 — Washington University in St. Louis is creating a new International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES) to encourage and coordinate university-wide and external collaborative research in the areas of renewable energy and sustainability — including biofuels, CO2 mitigation and coal-related issues. The university will invest more than $55 million in the initiative, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. (more…)

Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis recognized the achievements of five alumni and a special friend at 4 p.m. May 18 in the Arts & Sciences Laboratory Science Building. Edward S. Macias, Ph.D., executive vice chancellor, dean of Arts & Sciences and the Barbara and David Thomas Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences, presented Distinguished Alumni Awards to Mel F. Brown, J.D., (A.B. ’57, J.D. ’61); Alvin Rabushka, Ph.D., (A.B. ’62, M.A. ’66, Ph.D. ’68); Ronald M. Rettner (A.B. ’72); Pepper Schwartz, Ph.D., (A.B. ’67, M.A. ’69); and William Jay Smith (A.B. ’39, M.A. ’41). Macias also presented the Dean’s Medal to Harriet K. Switzer, Ph.D., secretary to WUSTL’s board of trustees, for her support and dedication to Arts & Sciences.

Tommy Thompson, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, will be among the speakers at a June 8 conference on Medicaid financing.Rising healthcare costs and diminishing health insurance coverage will be among critical issues debated by leading medical policy experts as Washington University hosts a daylong public forum on Medicaid financing June 8 in the School of Medicine’s Eric P. Newman Education Center. Participants include top administrators from a half dozen major research hospitals and a range of academic, government and think-tank policy experts, including Tommy Thompson, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Faculty members Helen M. Piwnica-Worms, Ph.D., of the School of Medicine, and Murray L. Weidenbaum, Ph.D., of the Danforth Campus, have been elected fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Roman Catholicism, with its numerous saints, long history and deep traditions, can be difficult for the uninitiated to grasp. But a new book from an expert on the Catholic Church who teaches at Washington University in St. Louis should help to change that. The Encyclopedia of Catholicism, compiled by Frank K. Flinn, adjunct professor of religious studies in Arts & Sciences at Washington University, will be released May 20. More…

U.S. NavyStrong government counterterrorism measures in response to terrorist attacks may cause economic damage and help terrorists groups stir up popular support for their agendas, often aiding them considerably in achieving their goals, suggests a new study from Washington University in St. Louis. More…

Collaboration is key to creativityIsaac Newton’s “a-ha” moment may have come while he was sitting alone under an apple tree, but that big idea might never had happened if he hadn’t spent so many hours discussing the laws of physics with fellow scientists and philosophers. In his latest book, Keith Sawyer, Ph.D., one of the country’s leading scientific experts on creativity in everyday life, argues that collaboration is essential in helping all of us harness the power of our own creative genius. More…

Three University scientists recently were elected to the National Academy of Sciences. WUSTL’s new academy members are Clifford M. Will, Ph.D., the James S. McDonnell Professor of Physics in Arts & Sciences; Wayne M. Yokoyama, M.D., the Sam J. Levin and Audrey Loew Levin Professor of Research in Arthritis and professor of medicine and of pathology and immunology; and Aaron J. Ciechanover, M.D., D.Sc., visiting professor of pediatrics at the School of Medicine and the Research Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.

Carl M. Bender, Ph.D., and Helen M. Piwnica-Worms, Ph.D., will receive the University’s 2007 faculty achievement awards, Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton announced. Bender, professor of physics in Arts & Sciences, is the winner of the Arthur Holly Compton Faculty Achievement Award, and Piwnica-Worms, professor of cell biology and physiology and of internal medicine at the School of Medicine, is the winner of the Carl and Gerty Cori Faculty Achievement Award.