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 | FIVE TO RECEIVE HONORARY DEGREES: One built a state-of-the-art biomedical research facility; another helped build one of the nation's finest collections of modern and contemporary art. From a 28-year member of Congress ... to a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences ... to one who holds an Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research, the five people selected to receive honorary degrees during the University's 144th Commencement on May 20 all stand out.
 TWO NEW DEANS: Kent D. Syverud, dean of the Vanderbilt University Law School, has been named dean of the Washington University School of Law, effective Jan. 1, 2006. He also will become the Ethan A. H. Shepley University Professor. Mahendra R. Gupta will become dean of the John M. Olin School of Business as of July 1, 2005. Professor Gupta, the Geraldine J. and Robert L. Virgil Professor of Accounting and Management, currently serves as senior associate dean of the Olin School of Business. He has been at the University for 15 years.
read more about Dean Syverud
read more about Dean Gupta
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE RANKS THIRD: U.S. News & World Report recently ranked graduate and professional schools, placing Washington University School of Medicine third in the nation after Harvard and Johns Hopkins. The School of Engineering and Applied Science, the John M. Olin School of Business, and the Department of Education in Arts and Sciences continued their ascent in the rankings, and 13 other Washington University schools, departments, or programs were listed in the top 20 rankings.
NEW CENTER FOR OBESITY RESEARCH: A $5 million gift from the Dr. Robert C. Atkins Foundation will be used to establish a center at Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Hospital to advance the fields of obesity research, prevention, and treatment. The center aims to balance development of outreach and educational programs with laboratory science.
TO “AIR” IS HUMAN, BUT BAD FOR THE EYES: Researchers at the School of Medicine may be a step closer to understanding what causes cataracts, with the hope of one day being able to prevent them. In a new study published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology, the researchers report oxygen may be the culprit.
 PREHISTORIC PROTEIN: An international team led by researchers at Washington University and at the Department of Human Evolution of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, have extracted and sequenced a 75,000-year-old protein from a Neandertal found in Shanidar Cave in Iraq, the oldest human protein ever sequenced.
A MIGHTY SOLAR WIND: Scientists at Washington University have begun to measure noble gases present in the solar wind delivered to Earth by the Genesis spacecraft, the first sample return mission since the lunar Apollo missions in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Features
EXAMINING PROSTATE CANCER SCREENING PRACTICES: Initial results from an ongoing study evaluating prostate cancer screening practices demonstrate that the use of both standard tests (the PSA and DRE) is optimal for detecting cancer. The nationwide study, begun in 1993, will allow researchers to determine if current screening practices reduce death from prostate cancer.
 IT’S GREEK TO TENNESSEE: In a New Orleans bookstore, Henry I. Schvey, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences, happened upon a Washington University test booklet that appears to be former student Tennessee Williams' Greek final. In it is also a previously unknown poem.
40 YEARS OF SERVICE: In 1965, the Women’s Society of Washington University was created to “bring the community to the University and the University to the community.” Today, the small band of volunteers has grown to a group of over 600 women who continue to support and serve Washington University and the St. Louis community.
Heard on Campus
“Comedy, I think, can’t be silenced because people are irresponsible”
—Seth MacFarlane, creator of the animated series Family Guy, from his speech, Inside the Family Guy, at the March 30 Assembly Series in Graham Chapel.
Kudos
Arts & Sciences junior Pooja Agarwal has been awarded a 2005 Harry S. Truman Foundation Scholarship. Truman Scholars are selected based on academic performance, leadership, and dedication to public service.
James L. Gibson, Ph.D., the Sidney W. Souers Professor of Government in Arts & Sciences, received a 2005 Decade of Behavior Research Award in recognition of his research on democracy issues.
Jonathan B. Losos, Ph.D., professor of biology in Arts and Sciences and director of the Tyson Research Center, is among the 186 winners of 2005 Guggenheim Fellowships. Professor Losos will use this fellowship to study ”Adaptive Radiation in Anolis Lizards."
T.S. Park, M.D., the Shi H. Huang Professor of Neurological Surgery and neurosurgeon-in-chief at St. Louis Children's Hospital, recently received the Korean Overseas Compatriots Award from the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) at a ceremony in Seoul. Dr. Park was recognized for his groundbreaking cerebral palsy research, particularly for refining surgical procedures for spastic cerebral palsy
Endel Tulving, Ph.D., the Clark Way Harrison Distinguished Visiting Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience in Arts & Sciences, is one of six scientists to be awarded the 2005 Gairdner International Award for groundbreaking work in medical research.
Three students from Washington University School of Medicine have been chosen for prominent offices in the American Medical Student Association. Leana S. Wen was elected national president, Andrew R. Reinink was named an associate regional trustee, and Kao-Ping Chua was hired as the Jack Rutledge Fellow.
The Washington University women’s softball team is ranked No. 1 for the first time in school history in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division III Top 25 poll. The top-ranked Bears’ final, 2005 regular-season record is 45-1.
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