Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts

Sabine Eckmann, the William T. Kemper Director and chief curator of the Kemper Art Museum at Washington University in St. Louis, will retire in January after more than 20 years of leadership.

Graduate student speaker Sejal Popat, who earned a master’s in fine arts in illustration and visual culture from the WashU Sam Fox School, delivered a message to the Class of 2026 at Washington University in St. Louis during the May 15 Commencement ceremony on Francis Olympic Field.

Three WashU undergraduates — Nitzia Y. Davalos Reyes, Ren Klein and Carlos Madrid — have been selected for the 2026 Gyo Obata Fellowship program. The paid 10-week internships aim to foster the next generation of arts administrators.

On Friday, May 15, graduate student speaker Sejal Popat and undergraduate student speaker Mason Shaver will join Chancellor Andrew D. Martin, honorary degree recipients and Commencement speaker Andy Cohen at WashU’s 165th Commencement ceremony. Here, they look back on their journeys to and through WashU.

Vicki Match Suna, executive vice president and vice dean for real estate development and facilities at NYU Langone Health, has received the 2026 Dean’s Medal from the WashU Sam Fox School.

Architectural designer Catherine Chen has been selected as the winner of the 2026 James Harrison Steedman Memorial Fellowship in Architecture. The biennial award is organzed by WashU’s Sam Fox School and AIA St. Louis.

Andrew Witt has been installed as the inaugural Kavita and Krishna Bharat Professor in the WashU Sam Fox School. The professorship includes a joint appointment at WashU McKelvey Engineering.

After an EF3 tornado ripped a milewide path through St. Louis and St. Louis County, Amanda Kesler, a master of landscape architecture candidate in the WashU Sam Fox School, combined aerial data and firsthand observation to map tree canopy damage.

Charlie White, the highly regarded artist and academic leader whose vision and student advocacy have helped to build nationally recognized programs at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Southern California, has been named the Ralph J. Nagel Dean of WashU’s Sam Fox School, announced Chancellor Andrew D. Martin.

A new exhibition spanning two decades of work by Carmon Colangelo, dean of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, will open April 24 at Bruno David Gallery in Clayton.