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| DEAN NAMED FOR THE SAM FOX SCHOOL OF DESIGN & VISUAL ARTS: Carmon Colangelo, director of the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia, has been named the first dean of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts. A widely exhibited artist known for mixed-media prints, Colangelo will assume his role as dean of the Sam Fox School July 1, 2006.
 UNIVERSITY RECEIVES GRANT TO SEQUENCE MAIZE GENOME: Researchers at the Genome Sequencing Center (GSC) at the School of Medicine will lead the sequencing of the genome of maize, more popularly known as corn. The National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Energy allocated a total of $32 million for sequencing maize; the GSC will receive $29.5 million of that funding.
A BATTLE TO PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH: Communities exposed to toxic lead emissions recently won an important victory in federal court through a case filed by the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic at Washington University. Students and faculty from the schools of Medicine, Law, Engineering, and Arts & Sciences worked on the case.
Research
BLOOD TEST FOR BREAST CANCER: Researchers at the School of Medicine have shown that mammaglobin, a protein secreted by breast tumor cells, can readily be detected in the blood serum of patients with metastatic breast cancer using an inexpensive, reliable clinical test.
 HYDROGEN AS FUEL: The use of hydrogen as fuel holds a lot of promise; it's clean burning – producing only water as a byproduct of its use – and burns more efficiently than natural gas. Yet, for all the promise hydrogen holds, it is very difficult to store; that's why Lev Gelb, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences, is working on theoretical models to help solve the problems of storing and transporting hydrogen.
GROW GLOBAL, CULTIVATE LOCAL: One of the effects of modern agriculture is the decrease in genetic diversity in our world. But researchers from the Department of Biology in Arts & Sciences have shown that in this case humans can be part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Researchers found that farmers in Central America have saved genetic variation in the jocote, a small, fruit-bearing tree, by taking the plants out of their wild habitat and growing them close to home for family and local consumption.
Features
 SOMETHING TO SINK YOUR TEETH INTO: Dinosaur classification can be a task as gargantuan as some of its famed species. To help tackle this task, Josh Smith, Ph.D., assistant professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences, has developed a mathematical scheme for identifying dinosaurs based upon dental measurements. His method could help paleobiologists identify and reconstruct the lives of the creatures that roamed the earth millions of years ago.
EFFECTIVE APOLOGIZING: Tales of corporate scandal and political misdeeds make spectacular headlines. But on a day-to-day basis, most people are confronted with relatively innocuous mistakes — the kinds of mistakes that could eventually break down trust and possibly even derail a career. There's a reason that a simple apology doesn't always re-establish the trust that it once enjoyed, according to new work by Kurt Dirks, associate professor of organizational behavior at the John M. Olin School of Business.
IT'S ALL IN THE ELBOW: Now that the World Series is over, most baseball players are taking some time to rest. Time off is especially important for pitchers because throwing a baseball overhand is both an unnatural motion and a burden on the shoulder and the elbow. A research team led by Washington University sports medicine specialists has found that professional pitchers have significantly decreased range of motion in their throwing elbows, but they don't know why.
Heard on Campus
"Seven out of 10 Americans are pro-life and pro-choice. They would prefer that somebody didn't have an abortion. They might even prefer themselves not to have an abortion. They say as far as government is concerned, it shouldn't interfere with abortion or shouldn't criminalize it."
—Rudolph Giuliani, former mayor of New York City, in response to a question from a student on November 5, prior to his keynote address at Founders Day.
Kudos
John R. Bowen, Ph.D., the Dunbar-Van Cleve Professor and chair of Social Thought and Analysis in Arts & Sciences, has been named one of sixteen 2005 Carnegie Scholars by the Carnegie Corporation of New York
Brad Duesing, a senior political science major in Arts & Sciences from Cincinnati, Ohio, became the second player in NCAA football history — Division I, II, or III — to record four consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons. He caught 75 passes for 1,136 yards and 10 touchdowns for the 6-4 Bears this fall.
Alex S. Evers, M.D., the Henry Eliot Mallinckrodt Professor and head of the Department of Anesthesiology, has been elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors medical scientists in the United States can receive.
WUSTL Links
About @ Washington University in St. Louis
This newsletter is prepared by Special Development Communications Projects staff in Alumni and Development Programs. It is intended to provide a brief summary of what is happening at the University. Alumni, parents, and friends of the University for whom we have valid e-mail addresses automatically receive @ Washington University in St. Louis.
Copyright 2005, Washington University in St. Louis
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