Arts & Sciences

For nearly a quarter century, Murray Weidenbaum has said little about what it was like to serve as the first chairman of President Ronald Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers, a role in which he was a primary architect of policies later known as “Reaganomics.” Now, one year after Reagan’s passing, Weidenbaum has issued a brief memoir detailing his years as the president’s chief economic adviser.

“Let’s talk about condoms.” Whether or not that conversational topic is introduced in a budding romantic relationship may depend on what type of condom-promotion messages the partners have heard. The way messages promoting condom-use are framed influences the effectiveness of the messages, according to a recent study co-authored by Dee Lisa Cothran, Ph.D., who conducted extensive research on the topic as a psychology doctoral student in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.

David Kilper / WUSTL PhotoAngenent and He’s microbial fuel cell may be scaled up for industrial use.An environmental engineer at Washington University in St. Louis has created a device similar to a hydrogen fuel cell that uses bacteria to treat wastewater and create electricity. Lars Angenent, Ph.D., assistant professor of Chemical Engineering, and a member of the University’s Environmental Engineering Science Program, has devised a microbial fuel cell which he calls an upflow microbial fuel cell (UMFC) that is fed continually and, unlike most microbial fuel cells, works with chambers atop each other rather than beside each other.

A modification to an “ace” gene prediction program now enables scientists to predict the very beginnings of gene transcription start sites, thereby defining the first exon of the gene. The modification to the gene prediction software TWINSCAN is called N-SCAN. Michael Brent, Ph.D. professor of computer science and engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, together with Samuel S. Gross, then an undergraduate at Washington University, and Randall H. Brown, Ph.D., a research scientist, report their results in the May 2005 issue of Genome Research.

Some species still prey on humans to this day.Early man was more wary than war-like, more intelligent, agile, and cooperative than aggressive, predator or killer, and he co-evolved as the prey of many species. Moreover, in the old days, woman wore the pants in the family and men were basically expendable, not the brightest bulbs on the tree when it came to tools, and functioning best as sentinels wary of predators in edge environments between the forest and savannah. Those are the primary themes of a new book, “Man the Hunted: Primates, Predators and Human Evolution”, co-authored by Robert W. Sussman, Ph.D., professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences.

Some of the country’s leading scholars of jazz and American culture will teach at Washington University’s National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute for High School Teachers July 4-29. “‘Teaching Jazz as American Culture’ will offer participants an exciting opportunity to learn about one of the most extraordinary art forms the United States has ever produced,” says Gerald L. Early, Ph.D., Washington University’s Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters and director of the Summer Institute. “The instructors in the institute are among the most noted jazz scholars, writers and composers in the country,” says Early, “and the high school teachers’ exposure to this collection of expertise should be both enriching and inspiring.”

Diane D. Jacobsen, Ph.D., a resident of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., was one of five alumni of Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis to receive the 2005 Distinguished Alumni Award during a ceremony May 20 on campus. Edward S. Macias, Ph.D., executive vice chancellor, dean of Arts & Sciences and the Barbara and David Thomas Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences, presented the awards to five individuals who have attained distinction in their academic or professional careers and have demonstrated service to their communities and to the university. Jacobsen received a master of liberal arts in 1995, a master of arts in 2000 and a doctorate in international affairs in 2003 from Washington University.

Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis recognized the achievements of six alumni during a May 20 ceremony on campus. 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 five individuals who have attained distinction in their academic or professional careers and have demonstrated service to their communities and to the university. The five alumni who received the 2005 Distinguished Alumni Award are: John P. Dubinsky (A.B. ’65, M.B.A. ’67); Flint W. Fowler, Ph.D. (A.B. ’80, M.A.’81); Henrietta W. Freedman (A.B. ’75); Diane D. Jacobsen, Ph.D. (M.L.A. ’95, M.A. ’00, Ph.D. ’03); and William B. Pollard III, J.D. (A.B. ’70). Macias also presented the Dean’s Medal to John H. Biggs (Ph.D. ’83), former chairman and chief executive officer of TIAA-CREF, one of the world’s largest pension systems, for his support and dedication to Arts & Sciences.

James RichardsThe Gateway Festival Orchestra will launch its 42nd season of free summer concerts with “Midwest Musical Masters,” highlighting composers and young artists from Missouri and Illinois, at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, July 10, in Washington University’s Brookings Quadrangle. The orchestra is conducted by James Richards, professor of orchestral studies at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Subsequent concerts take place at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, July 17, 24 and 31.

Diane D. Jacobsen, Ph.D., a 1965 graduate of Queens College, was one of five alumni of Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis to receive the 2005 Distinguished Alumni Award during a ceremony May 20 on campus. Edward S. Macias, Ph.D., executive vice chancellor, dean of Arts & Sciences and the Barbara and David Thomas Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences, presented the awards to five individuals who have attained distinction in their academic or professional careers and have demonstrated service to their communities and to the university. Jacobsen received a master of liberal arts in 1995, a master of arts in 2000 and a doctorate in international affairs in 2003 from Washington University.