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February 2007
University News
UNIVERSITY HITS THE TOP TEN AGAIN: In three national ratings — faculty scholarly productivity, black student college graduation rates, and number of National Merit Scholars in the freshman class — Washington University ranks in the top 10. The University is ranked in the top 10 in five broad areas and 19 specific disciplines, according to Academic Analytics' Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index, a new quantitative method for ranking research universities’ doctoral programs.
 GRANTS SUPPORT RESEARCH INTO FOURTH LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH IN U.S.: Smoking is a principal cause of emphysema and associated conditions that contribute to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. Yet, it does not affect every smoker. According to Michael Holtzman, M.D., the Selma and Herman Seldin Professor of Medicine, a mix of genes, viruses, and cigarettes is the cause. Holtzman and colleagues recently received a $14.9 million grant to establish a Specialized Center for Clinically Oriented Research, a program to foster research that quickly applies basic science findings to clinical problems.TUITION, FEES, ROOM AND BOARD SET FOR 2007-08: Washington University undergraduate tuition will be $34,500 for the 2007-08 academic year — a $1,700 increase over current tuition. In a letter to parents and students, Edward S. Macias, Ph.D., executive vice chancellor, dean of Arts & Sciences, and the Barbara and David Thomas Distinguished Professor in Arts & Sciences, said, "Colleges and universities face exceptional cost pressures that mirror those costs familiar to all — energy and healthcare. But we also face expense increases that in many ways are unique to academic institutions...”SWEET CHARITY: Will people pay more for a product that backs a good cause? Yes, to a point, according to studies conducted by two professors at the John M. Olin School of Business. On average, products affiliated with a cause have an estimated premium that is about five percent higher.
HUMAN SLEEPINESS BIOMARKER IDENTIFIED: Scientists in the School of Medicine have identified the first biochemical marker linked to sleep loss, an enzyme in saliva known as amylase, which increases in activity when sleep deprivation is prolonged. Researchers hope to identify a panel of biomarkers, which will aid diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders.
 I SMELL A RAT: Biologists in Arts & Sciences have discovered a large biological clock in the smelling center of mice brains and have revealed that the sense of smell for mice is stronger at night, peaking in evening hours and wani REALITY BITES: Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Germany has reemerged as an intellectual and creative center within the international art world. On February 9, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum will open Reality Bites: Making Avant-garde Art in Post-Wall Germany, the first thematic museum exhibition to examine how contemporary artists have dealt with German reunification. The exhibition will remain on view through April 29.
SCHAEL INDUCTED INTO HALL OF FAME: Washington University's Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2006 included a surprise 10th member, Director of Athletics John Schael. In 29 years as director of athletics, he has built the Bears’ program into one of the most respected in NCAA Division III.
THE QUESTION OF SUICIDE: It’s impossible to study suicide. That was the conventional wisdom in the 1950s. But two Washington University psychiatrists, Eli Robins and George E. Murphy, who launched the first systematic study of suicide 50 years ago, were convinced otherwise.
"If you look back in history, all international tribunals that were established, were established in one way or another because of a failure of domestic systems to exercise their responsibilities. And so as Nuremberg was a court of last resort, the ICC (International Criminal Court) is a court of last resort.”
—Philippe Kirsch, President of the International Criminal Court, from his September 30, 2006, address, Applying the Principles of Nuremberg in the International Criminal Court, during the Judgment at Nuremberg Conference, presented by Washington University School of Law, its Whitney R. Harris Institute for Global Legal Studies, and Washington University Department of Philosophy in Arts & Sciences.
Cristina Greavu and Peter Elsbeck, graduate students in architecture in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, have earned an honorable mention as part of an international urban design competition sponsored by the High Commission for the Development of ArRiyadh, capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
R. Gilbert Jost, M.D., the Elizabeth Mallinckrodt Professor in Radiology, director of the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, and head of the Department of Radiology, has been named president of the Radiological Society of North America.
Patty Jo Watson, Ph.D., the Distinguished University Professor Emerita of Archaeology in Arts & Sciences, has been awarded the Pomerance Award for Scientific Contributions to Archaeology from the Archaeological Institute of America.
Rafia Zafar, Ph.D., professor of English, of African & African American studies, and of American culture studies -- all in Arts & Sciences -- has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture abroad during the 2007 spring semester. She has been awarded the distinguished Walt Whitman Chair, which includes teaching an advanced undergraduate course and a graduate seminar at Utrecht University in the Netherlands
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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.
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