Washington University in St. Louis is providing all students, faculty, staff and basic service contractor employees free activation for the personal safety app SafeTrek. Essentially a mobile “blue light,” SafeTrek provides peace of mind and protection in potentially unsafe locations, such as parking garages or dark streets.
Students already have received a university email detailing how to register for SafeTrek; staff and faculty will receive instructions this week.
“The SafeTrek app provides an additional layer of protection for our entire community, whether you are a student returning to the South 40 after a late night at the library or an employee walking to your car,” said Dedric A. Carter, vice chancellor for operations and technology management.
To use the app, open SafeTrek on your mobile device and hold the large blue “Release when safe” button. Once you reach your destination and/or feel safe, release the button and enter your four-digit PIN.
If you don’t enter your PIN — either because you forgot or are, in fact, in danger — SafeTrek will send a text to verify you are safe. At this point you have another opportunity to enter your PIN and cancel the alert. If you do not enter your PIN in response to the text, a call is placed to your mobile device from a dedicated SafeTrek call center. If you do not answer the call or reply to the text, the center will dispatch local law enforcement personnel to your location using the GPS coordinates on your mobile device.
SafeTrek co-founder Nick Droege said SafeTrek offers two advantages over the standard 911 process. SafeTrek can inform police of a user’s exact GPS coordinates within 5 meters and send help immediately. Also, the user can get help without actually having to speak to a 911 operator.
“By simply lifting your thumb off your screen, you’re able to alert police,” Droege said. “That’s important because, in the case of an emergency, you can’t always communicate with a dispatcher.”
While thousands of college students nationwide use the SafeTrek app, Washington University is the first higher education institution to make the service available to its entire community and at no cost.
Washington University Police Chief Mark Glenn said SafeTrek is a complement to University Police and 911, not a replacement. If, for instance, you need an ambulance or want to report a theft, call 314-935-5555 on campus or 911 off campus.
“SafeTrek is a wonderful tool in situations where you may feel uneasy but don’t necessarily have a crime to report,” Glenn said. “We still encourage our community to call us directly if they can safely do so.”
SafeTrek FAQ
How much does it cost?
Washington University is providing a free subscription to all students, faculty, staff and basic services contract employees.
Does SafeTrek only provide protection on campus?
No. SafeTrek goes where you go, anywhere in the continental U.S., whether that’s the Danforth University Center or the District of Columbia.
How does it work?
Open the app and hold the blue “Release when safe button.” Once you reach your destination, you have 10 seconds to punch in your four-digit PIN. If you are in danger, do not enter your PIN. A SafeTrek dispatcher will first text, then call, your mobile device to check on your safety. You can then report your emergency to the dispatcher. If you do not or cannot respond to the call, law enforcement will be sent to your location immediately.
How will the police know where I am?
The SafeTrek call center will provide the police the GPS coordinates of your mobile device.
I accidentally forgot to enter my PIN. Now what?
If you remove your thumb, by accident or otherwise, SafeTrek will send a text to check on your status. Simply enter your PIN to cancel the call.
Someone stole my bike from the South 40. Should I use SafeTrek?
You could, but SafeTrek is designed to provide peace of mind and protection to users on their commutes. To report a crime on campus, call Washington University Police at 314-935-5555.
A rendering of Tisch Park, as viewed from the Skinker Boulevard entrance to the Danforth Campus.
As Washington University in St. Louis prepares for a significant transformation of the east end of its Danforth Campus beginning this spring, plans for the redesign are taking shape. In addition to three new academic buildings, two multiuse pavilions, an underground parking garage, and an expansion of the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, the project also includes an entirely reimagined landscape that offers a welcoming entrance to campus and places for members of the university community and visitors to gather and celebrate.
Andrew and Ann Tisch, AB ’76
A prominent feature of that landscape will bear the names of Washington University alumna and trustee Ann Rubenstein Tisch and her husband, Andrew. Longtime benefactors of the university, the couple is providing a lead gift in support of the east end transformation. The space – Ann and Andrew Tisch Park, to be known simply as Tisch Park – will represent a significant part of the continuous 18-acre landscape that will serve as a unifying space on the east end of the Danforth Campus.
“We are incredibly grateful to Ann and Andrew Tisch for their unwavering commitment and exceptional generosity to Washington University,” Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton said. “Of their many substantial gifts, their support for the east end project will be among the most visible and enduring highlights of their legacy on the Danforth Campus. Members of our community — in particular our students and alumni — will appreciate and enjoy Tisch Park for generations to come.”
Tisch Park, which will be situated between Skinker Boulevard and the current location of Hoyt Drive, will include the new Brookings Allée, which will retain the historical character of the original landscape and view, and be home to some 70 of the more than 300 trees that will be planted on the east end. The nearly continuous landscape of Tisch Park will offer pedestrian and bicycle access into and across the Danforth Campus and will connect to the relocated Florence Steinberg Weil Sculpture Garden at the Kemper Art Museum.
Located at the base of the iconic Brookings Hall steps, a court on the west side of Tisch Park will create a physical connection among elements of the new landscape and frame the view of Brookings Hall at the primary entrance to campus. The court will contain comfortable seating areas on the north and south ends and provide direct access to various other places to meet outdoors.
“Andrew and I believe the east campus development is among the most exciting projects at the university,” Ann Tisch said. “The Danforth Campus is one of the most beautiful places in higher education, and our hope is that Tisch Park will make it even better. The idea is to make all visitors feel welcome and inspired by Washington University, and to create a lively and lasting green space for the enjoyment of the entire university community.”
The Tisches, who are life members of the Danforth Circle Chancellor’s Level of the William Greenleaf Eliot Society, have provided generously for numerous Washington University facilities and programs. In addition to their support for the east end project, the couple has made significant contributions in support of scholarships in Arts & Sciences, the Danforth Scholars Program, cancer research and the Danforth University Center, which features the popular student gathering area Tisch Commons, named in their honor.
Ann Tisch graduated from Washington University’s College of Arts & Sciences in 1976, after which she held positions with WIBW-TV in Topeka, Kan., and WCCO-TV in Minneapolis. In 1984, she joined NBC Network News as a national correspondent. Her political, medical and human-interest stories aired on “NBC Nightly News” and NBC’s morning shows. She also became a substitute anchor for the “Today Show” and “NBC at Sunrise.” After 19 years in broadcast journalism, Tisch decided to pursue her long-held passion for education. Today, she is founder and president of the Young Women’s Leadership Network (YWLN). The organization creates and manages all-girls inner-city public schools. There are five such schools in New York City and 13 affiliates around the nation, including Hawthorn Leadership School for Girls, an all-girls STEM charter school in St. Louis sponsored by Washington University. Tisch also is the founder of the CollegeBound Initiative, a co-ed college access program that serves more than 18,000 students in 36 New York City public schools.
Tisch is a long-serving member of the university’s Board of Trustees and is chair of the New York Regional Cabinet. Her dedicated service also extends to Leading Together: The Campaign for Washington University, where she is chair of the Greater New York Regional Campaign Committee and national co-chair for regional campaigns.
Andrew Tisch is co-chairman of the board and chairman of the executive committee of Loews Corporation, where he has worked for more than 45 years. A graduate of Cornell University, he previously served as vice chair of its Board of Trustees. He currently serves on the Board of Overseers for Weill Cornell Medical College and is chairman of the Leadership Council of Cornell’s S.C. Johnson College of Business. Tisch earned a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard University and sits on the Harvard Business School Dean’s Board of Advisors, as well as the Board of Trustees for the Brookings Institution. He is vice chair of the New-York Historical Society and sits on the boards of the Wildlife Conservation Society and the New York City Police Foundation.
Work on the east end project — the largest capital investment in the recent history of the Danforth Campus — will begin following the university’s Commencement on May 19. The majority of the work is scheduled to be completed in 2019. To learn more about the east end transformation, visit campusnext.wustl.edu.
Future east end development, including Tisch Park, front center.
Taraxacum officinale, better known as the common dandelion, is a much-maligned weed cursed the world over for its ability to infest lawns and crops. The plant’s paratrooper-like seed dispersal system makes it difficult to eradicate, even for those with the greenest thumbs.
However, new research from an engineer at Washington University in St. Louis finds a great benefit in an unlikely place for the pesky dandelion: each of its tiny seeds can be used as a perfect pipette in the laboratory setting.
Genin
“We found you can actually use dandelion seeds to perform precise droplet handling. There aren’t many tools that exist for this,” said Guy Genin, professor of mechanical engineering at the School of Engineering & Applied Science.
Genin worked in tandem with horticulturists at Washington University’s McDonnell International Scholars Academy partner Xi’an Jiaotong University in Xi’an, China, where he also holds the appointment of Yangtze River Chaired Professor. The team examined the wettability of dandelion seeds, or how they are saturated by a liquid. While most materials can be wetted only by water (hydrophilic) or oil (oleophilic), the researchers found the pappus of a dandelion — the fluffy, white structure surrounding the seed — is omniphilic, able to be saturated by both materials. That rare trait makes it an extremely useful lab tool, especially when it comes to moving tiny amounts of either liquid from one setting to another.
“These dandelion pappi are chemically and structurally composed so that they will collapse in a special way if you dip them in either oil or water,” said Feng Xu, Genin’s collaborator and director of the Bioinspired Engineering and Biomechanics Center at Xi’an Jiaotong University. “Using the pappi, you can lift up a drop of water and deposit that drop of water into an oil bath. And you can go back into the oil, use the pappi to retrieve the drop of water, and move it elsewhere.”
Genin said using dandelions in the lab allows for precise handling of minute amounts of liquid, something especially important for the tiniest of experiments.
“Because it has this special omniphilic property, the seed provides us a new way of handling nanoliter-sized droplets in the lab. They are a beautiful controlled environment; they basically seal off the work around them so we can run a very controlled chemical reaction with them. The dandelion comes self-assembled, naturally grown, and its seeds are able to reliably and repeatedly pick up these tiny volumes of fluid that we need to transport in a lab setting.”
The seeds can be used either individually or in large assays to collect greater amounts of liquid. Genin said the next step is to replicate the pesky dandelion’s omniphilic properties in man-made materials.
“We hope to be able to develop bio-inspired omniphilic surfaces to create additional options for handling liquid for lab experiments,” Genin said.
In addition to the McDonnell International Scholars Academy, Xi’an Jiaotong and Washington University partner through the University Alliance of the Silk Road, an academic network associated with China’s “One Belt, One Road” policies.
“We bring scholars together across cultural and global boundaries,” said Shuguo Wang, president of Xi’an Jiaotong University and director of the University Alliance of the Silk Road, who was not involved in the dandelion research. “Our partnership with Washington University enabled the discovery of an exciting new technology, taken from a common pest.”
Advanced Functional Materials recently published this research, which was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.
The School of Engineering & Applied Science at Washington University in St. Louis focuses intellectual efforts through a new convergence paradigm and builds on strengths, particularly as applied to medicine and health, energy and environment, entrepreneurship and security. With 88 tenured/tenure-track and 28 additional full-time faculty, 1,200 undergraduate students, 1,200 graduate students and 20,000 alumni, we are working to leverage our partnerships with academic and industry partners — across disciplines and across the world — to contribute to solving the greatest global challenges of the 21st century.
A drawer slams like a gunshot. Condolence cards are tossed away. A young man collapses, overwhelmed by memory, his eyes bright with shock and loss.
In “Grieve,” director Sagar Brahmbhatt depicts bereavement as a kind of delayed reaction — a time bomb that never really stops exploding. The wordless, five-minute film unfolds elliptically but with startling emotional clarity. The title is at once description, advice and gentle command.
“When you experience loss, there’s this notion — especially among men — that it’s somehow weak to show emotion,” said Brahmbhatt, a sophomore in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and a peer counselor with Uncle Joe’s. “But internalizing that pain, holding it in, is not healthy. You have to let yourself go through the grieving process.
“You have to let yourself feel.”
In May, “Grieve” will be screened as part of the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, arguably the world’s premier film showcase. It is an impressive achievement for Brahmbhatt and his principal actors, fellow Arts & Sciences sophomores George Gathiani and Adon Wade-Currie.
“Floor is Lava?”
Yet remarkably, “Grieve” is not the only film by Washington University students going to Cannes this year.
“Floor is Lava?” was directed by sophomore Evan Gates and produced by junior Nick Rule and senior Emma Quirk-Durben (all in Arts & Sciences). Co-written by Gathiani, the film is playful and buoyant — a perfect rhyme for the children’s game it depicts — but also slyly pointed. Senior Michael Maley, slouching in a dark blazer, is sick of bills, taxes and credit cards. “I just want to be a kid again,” he thinks, face lighting with inspiration. “I just want to play.”
Bouncing about the room, Maley chats with a toy dinosaur and mourns a unicorn who unwisely descends to the carpet. When hunger strikes, an amused Carly Rosenbaum (also a sophomore) delivers pizza. But soon their conversation turns to the nature of responsibility, prompting Maley to a final gesture of semi-comic defiance.
“The film is about a young man, probably a few years out of college, who is now facing the harsh realities of adulthood,” said Gates, a regular WUTV contributor. “And in dealing with these pressures, he experiences a sort of early midlife crisis.
“He wishes everything could be simple.”
Campus MovieFest
“Grieve and “Floor is Lava?” are among 28 student works from around the nation that will be screened at Cannes May 25-26 as part of the Campus MovieFest short film program.
Founded in 2001, Campus MovieFest is a sort of traveling workshop and festival for aspiring filmmakers. Over the years, the group has provided professional training, equipment and support to thousands of students and awarded more than $2 million in cash and prizes.
Last September, Campus MovieFest staff spent a week in residence at Washington University. Students had five days to script, film and produce their shorts.
“We finished the script at about 4 a.m. on the third day,” Gates said. “Three hours later, we were up and shooting.”
“Holding the camera rig, filming for 10 hours… It’s physically hard work,” Brahmbhatt added. “By the end of the day, my hands would be shaking.”
Nevertheless, participants completed 14 films, which were then screened at the Danforth University Center and archived at campusmoviefest.com.
From that group, “Grieve” and “Floor is Lava?” were selected for Terminus, the Campus MovieFest Grand Finale in Atlanta. Both won Jury Awards, making them eligible for Cannes consideration. “Floor is Lava?” also won a Silver Tripod award for story, while “Grieve” won a Silver Tripod for performance.
Filmmakers (from left) George Gathiani, Evan Gates and Sagar Brahmbhatt. Gathiani stars in “Grieve,” a short film directed by Brahmbatt, and co-wrote “Floor is Lava?” with Evans, who directed. Both films will be screened later this month as part of the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. (Photo: Joe Angeles/Washington University)
Passion and talent
In Cannes, both films will be shown at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, the festival’s primary venue. They also will be available for on-demand viewing May 22-28 in the Short Film Corner.
“It’s a little intimidating,” said Brahmbhatt, who will attend the festival with Gates and Rule. “But it’s also pretty exciting. Cannes is one of the world’s great film showcases. Just being there … it’s a crazy honor.”
Unlike many festivals, Cannes is not open to the public. Attendance is strictly limited to filmmakers, distributors, journalists and other industry figures. But as accredited guests, the three students will have free reign to attend premieres, walk the red carpet and interact with film professionals.
“Last semester, I interned with Stories International, a production company in Los Angeles,” Gates said. “So I’ve seen something of the Hollywood paradigm. Cannes is the other end of the spectrum. Attending is a privilege for any young filmmaker.
“There’s a lot of talent on campus,” Gates added. “‘Floor is Lava?’ required no money to make — just time, energy and initiative. The passion here is quite remarkable.
“I hope other students see this work and think, ‘Oh. I can do that too.’”
The United States is the world’s leader in incarceration, spending $52 billion a year on correctional supervision and another $948 billion in related social costs.
What can be done to shrink the prison system?
New guideposts developed by an expert on prison reform at Washington University in St. Louis suggest that smart decarceration of America’s prisons is the answer.
Pettus-Davis
A smart decarceration strategy will dramatically reduce the number of people who are imprisoned and enable the nation to embrace a more effective and just approach to public safety, argued Carrie Pettus-Davis of the Brown School.
“As the era of mass incarceration appears to be coming to an end, promoting smart decaraceration in the United States requires deliberate action,” said Pettus-Davis, assistant professor and director of the Institute for Advancing Justice Research and Innovation.
The three lead the Smart Decarceration Initiative, a partnership between the Brown School, the University of Chicago and the Center for Social Development.
“We developed this report for wide public distribution because we knew that the exponential increase in those interested in criminal justice reforms needed to be paired with guideposts upon which people can draw,” Pettus-Davis said. “We formed these guideposts by conducting a national study of perspectives from experts in criminal justice and decarcerative reforms.”
The report offers actionable and concrete strategies to be used by reformers, researchers, policymakers and practitioners to accelerate evidence-driven change, she said.
Smart decarceration will only be achieved when three simultaneous goals are accomplished, Pettus-Davis said.
Those are: to substantially reduce the incarcerated population in jails and prisons; to redress race, economic and behavioral health disparities of those involved in the criminal justice system; and to maximize public well-being and public safety.
“This report compiles the current thinking of leaders at a time in which the United States is on the cusp of smart decarceration,” Pettus-Davis said. “Implementing components of these guideposts into meaningful action will require the commitment and engagement of state and local officials, community-based providers and organizations, scholars committed to applied research, and advocates and formerly incarcerated leaders.”
Glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness worldwide, most often is diagnosed during a routine eye exam. Over time, elevated pressure inside the eye damages the optic nerve, leading to vision loss. Unfortunately, there’s no way to accurately predict which patients might lose vision most rapidly.
Now, studying mice, rats and fluid removed from the eyes of patients with glaucoma, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a marker of damage to cells in the eye that potentially could be used to monitor progression of the disease and the effectiveness of treatment.
The findings are published online May 4 in the journal JCI Insight.
“There hasn’t been a reliable way to predict which patients with glaucoma have a high risk of rapid vision loss,” said principal investigator Rajendra S. Apte, MD, PhD, the Paul A. Cibis Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. “But we’ve identified a biomarker that seems to correlate with disease severity in patients, and what that marker is measuring is stress to the cells rather than cell death. Other glaucoma tests are measuring cell death, which is not reversible, but if we can identify when cells are under stress, then there’s the potential to save those cells to preserve vision.”
Glaucoma is the second-leading cause of blindness in the world, affecting more than 60 million people. The disease often begins silently, with peripheral vision loss that occurs so gradually that it can go unnoticed. Over time, central vision becomes affected, which can mean substantial damage already has occurred before any aggressive therapy begins.
Many patients start receiving treatment when their doctors discover they have elevated pressure in the eye. Those treatments, such as eye drops, are aimed at lowering pressure in the eye, but such therapies may not always protect ganglion cells in the retina, which are the cells destroyed in glaucoma, leading to vision loss.
Apte, also a professor of developmental biology, of medicine and of neuroscience, said that all current treatments for glaucoma are aimed at lowering pressure in the eye to reduce ganglion cell loss and not necessarily at directly preserving ganglion cells.
Glaucoma specialists attempt to track the vision loss caused by ganglion cell death with visual field testing. That’s when a patient pushes a button when they see a blinking light. As vision is lost, patients see fewer lights blinking in the periphery of the visual field, but such testing is not always completely reliable, according to the paper’s first author, Norimitsu Ban, MD, an ophthalmologist and a postdoctoral research associate in Apte’s laboratory.
Some older people don’t do as well on the visual field test for reasons that may not be related to what’s going on in their eyes, Ban explained. He said that finding a marker of cell damage in the eye would be a much more reliable way to track the progression of glaucoma.
“We were lucky to be able to identify a gene and are very excited that the same gene seems to be a marker of stress to ganglion cells in the retinas of mice, rats and humans,” Ban said.
Studying mouse models of glaucoma, Ban, Apte and their colleagues identified a molecule in the eye called growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15), noting that the levels of the molecule increased as the animals aged and developed optic nerve damage.
When they repeated the experiments in rats, they replicated their results. Further, in patients undergoing eye surgery to treat glaucoma, cataracts and other issues, the researchers found that those with glaucoma also had elevated GDF15 in the fluid of their eyes.
“That was exciting because comparing the fluid from patients without glaucoma to those with glaucoma, the GDF15 biomarker was significantly elevated in the glaucoma patients,” Apte said. “We also found that higher levels of the molecule were associated with worse functional outcomes, so this biomarker seems to correlate with disease severity.”
Apte and Ban don’t believe that the molecule causes cells in the retina to die; rather, that it is a marker of stress in retinal cells.
“It seems to be a harbinger of future cell death rather than a molecule that’s actually damaging the cells,” Apte said.
A potential limitation of this study is that the fluid samples were taken from the eyes of patients only once, so it was not possible to monitor levels of GDF15 over time. In future studies, it will be important to measure the biomarker at several time points to determine whether levels of the biomarker increase as the disease progresses, Apte said.
He also would like to learn whether GDF15 levels eventually decline in those who have significant vision loss from glaucoma. In theory, Apte said, when most of the ganglion cells in the retina already have died, fewer cells would be under stress, and that could mean lower levels.
“So we are interested in doing a prospective study and sampling fluid from the eye over several months or years to correlate glaucoma progression with levels of this marker,” he said. “We’d also like to learn whether levels of GDF15 change after treatment, a particularly important question as we try to develop therapies that preserve vision more effectively in these patients.”
Ban N, Siegfried CJ, Lin JB, Shiu YB, Sein J, Pita-Thomas W, Sene A, Santeford A, Gordon M, Lamb R, Dong Z, Kelly SC, Cavalli V, Yoshino J, Apte RS. GDF15 is elevated in mice following retinal ganglion cell death and in glaucoma patients. JCI Insight. May 4, 2017.
This work was supported by the National Eye Institute, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), grant numbers R01 EY019287, UL1 KL2TR000450, P30 DK56341, P30 DK02057, DK104995, R01 EY021515, R01 DE0220000, R01 NS0824446, P30 EY02687, T32 GM007200, UL1 TR000448 and TL1 TR000449. Additional funding provided by the Schulak Family Gift Fund for Retinal Research, the Jeffrey Fort Innovation Fund, the Kuzma Family Gift Fund, the Central Society for Clinical and Translational Research, a Research to Prevent Blindness Physician Scientist Award, the Washington University Institute of Clinical and Translational Sciences, the American Federation for Aging Research, the Vitreoretinal Surgery Foundation and an unrestricted grant from Research to Prevent Blindness Inc.
Washington University’s Office of Technology Management has filed intellectual property applications based on these studies in which the authors Rajendra S. Apte and Jun Yoshino are listed as inventors.
Washington University School of Medicine’s 2,100 employed and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient-care institutions in the nation, currently ranked seventh in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.
Four university scientists are among the 84 members and 21 foreign associates recently elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Election to the academy is considered one of the highest honors accorded a U.S. scientist or engineer.
Washington University’s new academy members are Fiona Marshall, the James W. and Jean L. Davis Professor, and Henry L. “Roddy” Roediger III, the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor, both in Arts & Sciences; and L. David Sibley, the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor of Molecular Microbiology, and David Van Essen, the Alumni Endowed Professor of Neurobiology, both at the School of Medicine.
“Each of the four members of our faculty elected to the National Academy of Sciences has made pioneering research contributions in their area of scholarly activity,” said Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. “I am proud of their achievements, and extend enthusiastic congratulations on the important recognition they have received by their election to the National Academy of Sciences.”
Marshall
Marshall, an archaeologist in the Department of Anthropology, is an Old World prehistorian specializing in the study of early food production in Africa and in the domestication of animals, including donkeys and cats.
Born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, Marshall’s work always has focused on African archaeology. Her use of zooarchaeological and ethnoarchaeological techniques to understand the relationships between early food production, climatic shifts and the spread of early herders in Africa has advanced the field of study and has positioned her as an international expert on human influences on African savannas and on animal domestication.
Her teaching and research continues to expand our understanding of human-animal relations; complex interactions among ancient agricultural, pastoral and hunter-gatherer societies; the history and resilience of livestock and herding ways of life; and the sustainability of African grasslands.
After earning her doctorate in 1987, Marshall joined the university’s anthropology department as an assistant professor, and she was promoted to full professor in 2002. She was named to the Davis professorship in 2015. Her administrative contributions include directing graduate studies for the department; and serving as interim chair, both in 2006 and during the 2013-14 academic year.
Roediger
Roediger is a cognitive psychologist known for his scholarship on human learning and memory. His research explores factors that increase learning and retention and their application to education; memory illusions and the development of false memories; the study of people with highly superior memory abilities; and collective and historical memory. He has published more than 250 articles, chapters and reviews and has written or edited 14 books. Three of his textbooks have been through a combined 23 editions.
He joined the university faculty in 1996 as chair of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences after teaching at Purdue University, the University of Toronto and Rice University. He received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Washington & Lee University and his PhD in cognitive psychology from Yale University.
Roediger is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Psychological Association (APA) and the American Psychological Society. He is a past president of the Association for Psychological Science, which granted him the William James Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. He is a member of the Society of Experimental Psychologists and received its Howard Crosby Warren Medal for his studies of illusory memories. He recently received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Experimental Psychology and Cognitive Science, a division of APA. He served on the governing board of the Psychonomic Society and received a Guggenheim Fellowship.
Sibley
Sibley is an expert on the cellular microbiology of parasites, especially Toxoplasma gondii, which causes the common and sometimes debilitating infection toxoplasmosis. These parasitic infections often are benign but can become life-threatening in people with weakened immune systems, including newborns, the elderly, or patients with HIV or undergoing cancer therapies.
He has made major contributions to the field of parasite biology in describing how T. gondii invades cells and what factors determine how severe the infection is. That work also has served as a model for understanding related parasitic infections, including malaria. His lab also is developing ways to study cryptosporidium infection, a major cause of pediatric diarrheal disease in developing parts of the world.
Sibley joined the university faculty in 1991. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College in 1978 and a doctorate in zoology and physiology from Louisiana State University in 1985. He completed his postdoctoral training at the U.S. Public Health Service’s National Hansen’s Disease Center and at Stanford University School of Medicine.
He is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and has been recognized for his research with the Burroughs-Wellcome Award in Molecular Parasitology and the Alice and C.C. Wang Award in Molecular Parasitology.
Van Essen
Van Essen studies the structure, function, development and evolution of the cerebral cortex — the crumpled outer layer of the brain that is key to language, attention, perception, memory and other functions.
He co-led the Human Connectome Project, which mapped the neural connections of young adults. The project provided a baseline snapshot of a healthy brain from which researchers can begin to identify differences that may be associated with disease. That effort also made major contributions in regard to how scientists acquire, analyze and share information about the living brain.
He currently co-leads two “lifespan” projects that build on the techniques and findings of the Human Connectome Project. The current projects aim to capture the changes that occur as brains develop, mature and age.
A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science since 1994, Van Essen also has received the Krieg Cortical Discoverer Award from the Cajal Club and the George A. Miller Prize for distinguished scholarship from the Cognitive Neuroscience Society.
Van Essen earned his doctoral degree in neurobiology from Harvard Medical School in 1971. After postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard, the University of Oslo, and University College London, he joined the faculty of the California Institute of Technology. He came to Washington University in 1992 as the Edison Professor of Neurobiology.
When the transformation of the east end of the Danforth Campus of Washington University in St. Louis is complete, it will be home to new academic buildings, extensive green space, a welcome center, expanded facilities for the arts, and an underground parking garage. It also will be highlighted by a new place for meeting, eating, learning and wellness — the 18,000-square-foot Craig and Nancy Schnuck Pavilion, named in recognition of a leadership commitment from the Schnucks, dedicated friends and benefactors of the university.
A member of the Washington University Board of Trustees since 1996, Craig Schnuck was elected chair-elect and a Life Member of the board in 2013 and chair in 2014. He has served as a member of the board’s Building, Grounds and Real Estate Committee for more than 20 years and chaired the committee for 14 years.
Nancy and Craig Schnuck
He also is among a handful of university leaders who have played a key role in planning the east end transformation, a project that inspired Craig and his wife, Nancy, to make their gift in support of the construction of the Schnuck Pavilion, a multiuse facility that will provide vital services for the east end of campus and serve as headquarters for the university’s sustainability initiatives.
“For more than 20 years, Craig Schnuck has served Washington University with great enthusiasm and distinction,” Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton said. “It has been a pleasure to work alongside him to advance the university’s objectives. We are delighted that the Schnuck name will be associated in this prominent way with a project that he helped guide to fruition.”
The Schnuck Pavilion will house dining facilities, the Environmental Studies program, the university’s Office of Sustainability, and a multipurpose classroom. It will support pedestrian and bicycle commuters with shower facilities, lockers, and bicycle parking. A café and outdoor dining terraces will provide a variety of food service options with seating for up to 300 people.
“As we increase the number of academic buildings on the east end, we must ensure that we have adequate services for the students, faculty and staff members, and visitors who spend significant time in that area,” Schnuck said. “The Schnuck Pavilion will address that need and become a key gathering place on campus.”
The building’s transparent design echoes that of the Gary M. Sumers Welcome Center, which will stand across from the Schnuck Pavilion at the foot of the stairs leading to Brookings Hall. “Because these two buildings will flank Brookings Hall and frame the view of its iconic façade, it was important that they complement each other and blend into the landscape,” Schnuck said.
Naming the building that will serve as a dining destination for the east end of campus was a natural fit, Schnuck said, given his connection to the food industry. He is chairman emeritus of St. Louis-based Schnuck Markets Inc., and is among the third generation of his family to run the company, which operates 100 stores in five states. He became president of the company in 1984 and served as CEO from 1989 to 2006 and chairman from 1991 to 2006.
The Schnuck family has a long history of involvement at Washington University. Craig Schnuck’s father, Donald, studied business at the university for two years before enlisting in the Navy during World War II. Since then, many members of the family have earned degrees at the university, including Craig Schnuck’s son, Brian, EMBA ’09, and his brother, Terry, PMBA ’80.
The Schnucks also have provided significant support for scholarships, Olin Business School, medical research, and other areas of the university. In 2001, the Donald O. Schnuck Family Professorship in Neurology for Neurofibromatosis Research was established in his memory by his widow, Doris, and their children.
Craig and Nancy Schnuck are recognized as Life Fellows of the William Greenleaf Eliot Society for their generous gifts to the university. Beyond his work as a trustee, Craig Schnuck has contributed leadership at the School of Medicine, where he served as a member and chair of the school’s national council. He is active in civic affairs throughout the St. Louis area. He currently leads the Barnes-Jewish Hospital Board of Directors and is a former chair of the Greater St. Louis Area Boy Scouts, the United Way of Greater St. Louis, and John Burroughs School. Schnuck is an alumnus of Cornell University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Business Administration.
Over the past five years, Mr. Schnuck has enjoyed working with Washington University administrators and fellow trustees to oversee planning for the east end project. “It’s wonderful to collaborate with such bright and dedicated people,” he said. “It’s been a rewarding experience.”
When work on the project is finished in 2019, Schnuck will be a few months away from completing his term as chair of the Board of Trustees. He said the gift to name the Schnuck Pavilion is a way to show his appreciation for his association with the project and the university.
“Nancy and I are very proud of the university and our connection to it,” he said. “I hope that through my service at the university I have helped in its ascension as a premier institution. Naming this building allows me to say thank you and leave a long-term legacy of my time here.”
During her first year at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Hilary Gallin studied racial and gender disparities in health care. She learned about various physicians’ approaches to community and global medicine. During overviews of medical specialties — from pediatrics to gerontology — Gallin learned about age-specific patient care.
However, she felt one important element was missing in her medical education.
“I kept thinking about people with chronic disabilities, whether physical or cognitive,” said Gallin, who will earn her medical degree in May. “And I kept asking myself if I, as a physician, would have the knowledge and skills to best treat a patient with disabilities.”
Her answer was no.
“I also asked myself if, as a physician, I would have access to specialized exam equipment and other resources,” Gallin said.
She didn’t know the answer to that question. The topic wasn’t formally included in medical school training.
Feeling she’d be unprepared as a physician, Gallin decided to create a multiyear curriculum for the School of Medicine that focused on treating patients with disabilities. According to research published in 2016 in the journal Academic Medicine, most medical schools do not offer formal training in caring for people with disabilities; rather, disability often is viewed as an obstacle to overcome, and health-care providers sometimes discount disability’s social, emotional and cultural contexts.
However, physicians nationwide, including at Washington University, say medical schools have started recognizing the need for training students to effectively and compassionately treat patients with disabilities. Some medical schools have implemented various degrees of disability education or have begun the process of considering or developing a disability curriculum.
Gallin witnessed firsthand the struggles facing people with disabilities. The 29-year-old grew up with a friend who navigated life in a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy, an incurable disorder caused by abnormal brain development, often before birth, that impairs motor function. Also, while a young girl, Gallin spent a lot of time in hospitals in her native New York while shadowing her mother, a pediatric ophthalmologist.
“These experiences inspired me to learn more about what I can do, what we can do, to help people with disabilities,” said Gallin, who also is earning a master of business administration this May from Harvard University and formerly worked as an investment banker at Goldman, Sachs & Co. on Wall Street. She believes business skills will make her a better doctor by guiding her through all aspects of the changing health-care system.
“I want to approach medicine from different angles instead of limiting myself to the clinical and research perspective,” said Gallin, whose undergraduate degree in biomedical engineering from Yale University provides an even deeper understanding of the industry as a whole. “A lot of major policy affecting health care is made without a physician in the room.”
Developing a disability curriculum
Academics aside, Gallin values considering patients’ personal backgrounds in evaluation and treatment. For instance, she imagined herself giving a medical exam to her friend with cerebral palsy. She wondered: “How would I weigh her? Would I need a special exam table? What’s it like to go to the doctor when you have a disability?”
So she asked her friend and other people with disabilities. Their insights reflected national findings that people with disabilities often feel that their overall abilities, self-knowledge about their conditions and quality of life are underestimated by health-care providers. Many felt embarrassed to discuss disability-related health concerns such as treating pressure sores or practicing safe sex.
“Physicians may assume the person is not sexually active, and that may not be the case,” said Gallin, who was elected by classmates and faculty to the Gold Humanism Honor Society, which honors those who exhibit compassion in medicine.
“Another example occurred when I was working on cervical cancer screenings, or pap smears, with the National Health Service in the United Kingdom,” Gallin said. “One primary-care physician cited that people with disabilities have lower screening rates, and he admitted that he didn’t feel competent in screening some patients due to lack of training. Physician lack of knowledge increases the risk for negative health outcomes.”
Indeed. “In the medical literature, physician education is cited as a source of health discrepancies in patients with disabilities,” Gallin said. “Formal training in medical school would help to remedy disability as a health disparity.”
A few weeks after Gallin started medical school, she sought guidance on developing a disability curriculum from one of her mentors, Alan I. Glass, MD, assistant vice chancellor for students and director of the Habif Health & Wellness Center, which offers student health services at Washington University.
“Because of her focus, passion and persistence, the project evolved into a mission within the medical school to better care for this large and important population,” Glass said. “Hilary’s work has become an important part of the diversity curriculum for medical students. It serves as a model for other schools.”
For the White House, too. In 2014 and 2015, Gallin presented her curriculum to the director of the National Council on Disability, the agency responsible for devising national policy for people with disabilities.
Fourth-year medical student Hilary Gallin finishes a practice exam with patient Julia Burgess of St. James, at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. (Photo: Huy Mach/Washington University School of Medicine)
“In developing the curriculum, I reached out to leaders to learn what they thought was needed in physician education,” Gallin said. “It was around the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the White House director was curious to learn about what medical schools were doing to improve the care of people with disabilities.”
Washington University’s curriculum continues to evolve and improve, Gallin said.
“What is unique about the School of Medicine’s curriculum is that it builds on itself over time,” she said. “Students at other medical schools may receive informal training during their third year or attend isolated curriculum events over the year.
“But with our curriculum, students begin during the first year and continue throughout their studies,” she said. “They must demonstrate mastery of material through exams or standardized patient encounters, which is when an actor plays the role of patient and the student is scored based on performance.”
Gallin said she will continue to advocate for patients with disabilities — as well as all patients — when she begins her post-graduation residency in anesthesiology at the Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.
“One of a physician’s greatest assets is curiosity,” Gallin said. “With each person I treat, I will ask myself, ‘What are the preconceived assumptions that could hinder patient care?’”
Washington University School of Medicine’s 2,100 employed and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient-care institutions in the nation, currently ranked seventh in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.
Nearly one-third of the 136 students graduating this month from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis will receive more than one degree. Those 44 students also will have earned advanced degrees in fields such as public health, biology and business.
The drive for dual degrees reflects burgeoning motivation among physicians-to-be, particularly those attending the nation’s top-tier medical schools.
“Medical students in general are recognizing the importance of having multiple expertise in the competitive, changing health-care field,” said Michael M. Awad, MD, PhD, the School of Medicine’s associate dean for medical student education and an associate professor of surgery. “This has been a longtime priority for many of our students.”
Almost one-third of the school’s 2016 medical school graduates obtained double degrees. Last year’s numbers represent a slight increase compared with five and 10 years ago, when just over 20 percent earned more than one advanced degree.
Nationally, the Association of American Medical Colleges shows a gradual increase in dual-degree programs. In 2005-06, about 7 percent of the 15,927 graduating medical students had earned dual degrees, compared with 10 percent of the18943 graduates in 2015-16.
Typically, the School of Medicine’s dual-degree programs span five years and offer “a unique synergy” with other departments, said Awad, also the director of the Institute for Surgical Education.
The university’s Medical Scientist Training Program, established in 1969, is the oldest and most popular dual-degree program among medical students. Through May 2016, it had graduated a total of 610 physician-scientists.
In 2015, the medical school began offering two additional dual-degree programs: a medical degree combined with a master in population health sciences or with a master in public health.
The MD/MPHS aims to improve community health through hands-on experience and an understanding of the social, economic, environmental and cultural determinants of health; the MD/MPH is a combined program with the Brown School of Social Work that focuses on public policy, behavior, epidemiology, biostatistics and research.
The university also offers the following dual degrees:
MD/MA (master of arts) — A flexible program allowing students to participate in cutting-edge biomedical or clinical research.
MD/MSCI (master of science in clinical investigation) — A mentored program geared toward students pursuing careers in academic clinical research.
An MD/MBA (master of business administration) likely is next on the university’s list for a new dual-degree program.
“More students have inquired about it in recent years,” Awad said. “We have several medical students who we’ve worked with in creating an MD-MBA program at other universities.
“We also help students customize dual-degree programs,” Awad said. “It is definitely a feather in one’s cap.”
The breakdown of dual degrees among this year’s graduates is:
28 MD/PhD
7 MD/MSCI
4 MD/MPHS
3 MD/MA
1 MD/MPH
1 MD/MBA
Washington University School of Medicine’s 2,100 employed and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient-care institutions in the nation, currently ranked seventh in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.
At its spring meeting, held Friday, May 5, the Board of Trustees at Washington University in St. Louis elected five new members, re-elected four members and elected officers, among other actions, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton.
The five new board members elected to four-year terms are:
Scott W. Fancher, MS ’84, EMBA ’92, senior vice president of Program Management, Integration & Development Programs, Boeing Co., Seattle;
Jon Feltheimer, AB ’72, chief executive officer, Lionsgate, Santa Monica, Calif.;
Andrea J. Grant, AB ’71, JD ’74, partner, DLA Piper, Washington;
James M. McKelvey Jr., AB ’87, BS ’87, co-founder and general partner, Cultivation Capital, and co-founder and director, Square Inc., San Francisco; and
David L. Steward, founder and chairman of the board, World Wide Technology Inc., St. Louis.
Four trustees were re-elected for a second four-year term. They are:
Jerald L. Kent, president and CEO of Cequel III LLC;
Rakesh Sachdev, CEO, Platform Specialty Products Corp., West Palm Beach, Fla.;
Diane M. Sullivan, CEO, president and chairman, Caleres; and
Lawrence E. Thomas, partner, Edward Jones.
Three former regular-term trustees also were elected. They are:
Corinna Cotsen, owner, Edifice Complex, Santa Monica;
Eugene S. Kahn, former CEO, Claire’s Stores, and former chairman and CEO, The May Department Stores Co.; and
James V. O’Donnell, president and CEO, Bush O’Donnell & Co.
The board also elected four trustees emeritus. They are:
David V. Habif Jr., retired, Naples, Fla.;
Robert E. Hernreich, retired professional sports owner, Paris;
Andrew E. Newman, chairman, Hackett Security Inc.; and
Mary Ann Van Lokeren, retired chairman and CEO, Krey Distributing Co., Boca Grande, Fla.
In addition, the board elected its officers for 2017-18:
Craig D. Schnuck, chairman emeritus of St. Louis-based Schnuck Markets Inc., board chair;
Stephen F. Brauer, chairman, Hunter Engineering, vice chair; and
David W. Kemper, chairman and CEO, Commerce Bancshares Inc., vice chair.
In his report to the trustees, Wrighton noted two recent important administrative appointments: Anthony J. Azama, senior associate athletics director for external operations at Columbia University, as the John M. Schael Director of Athletics, effective July 1; and Stephanie Kurtzman, as the Peter Sortino Director of the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement.
Wrighton reported that the Admissions Office had a busy spring recruitment season including holding highly successful signature events in Los Angeles, Dallas and Greenwich, Conn., where admitted students had the opportunity to interact with faculty, alumni and staff.
He also gave an update on university construction projects. Among the projects, he noted that demolition has begun for converting the old Shriner’s Hospital at the Medical Campus to apartments; upgrades are in the works for the Central West End MetroLink station; and the newly expanded Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish St. Peters Hospital opened May 1.
Wrighton noted that, among other athletic accomplishments this spring, the women’s track and field team captured the title at the 2017 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field National Championship, bringing to 21 the number of overall national championships in school history. The Department of Athletics is ranked No. 1 in the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup Division III standings, which rate athletics programs from around the country.
In addition to the chancellor’s report, the faculty representative to the board, Rebecca Hollander-Blumoff, chair of the Faculty Senate Council and professor of law, and the outgoing student representatives to the board provided reviews of the year.
Arts & Sciences graduating seniors Rohan Khazanchi, a biology major, and Norah E. Rast, a global health and the environment major, represented undergraduate students on the board.
Alexandra M. Keane, a second-year medical student, and Wei Zhu, a May degree candidate in the School of Law, were the graduate student representatives.
Wrighton also welcomed the new student representatives to the board. They are: juniors Peter G. Dissinger in the Olin Business School, and Megan G. Wolf, in the College of Arts & Sciences; Ramin M. Lalezari, a dual-degree student completing an MD and an MBA; and Kadeem G. Ricketts, third-year JD/MBA student.
In addition, the trustees heard reports from the following standing committees: compensation, development, educational policy, global engagement, honorary degree, medical finance, nominating and governance, university finance and Alumni Board of Governors, and they received a written report from the audit committee.
Shenyang Guo, the Frank J. Bruno Distinguished Professor of Social Work Research at the Brown School and assistant vice chancellor for international affairs – Greater China at Washington University in St. Louis, has been named a Yangtze River Scholar by the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China.
The prestigious award is the highest award issued to an individual in higher education by the country’s Ministry of Education. In addition to China’s top scholars, the ministry also selects several international recipients each year.
Guo
This marks the third person affiliated with Washington University to have received the honor. Guy Genin, professor of mechanical engineering and materials science in the School of Engineering & Applied Science, was named a scholar in 2015. Pang Xun, who earned a doctorate in political science from the university in 2010 and is currently professor of international relations at Tsinghua University in China, was awarded a Yangtze River Scholar in the Young Scholar category this year.
Few universities in the United States have two current Yangtze River Scholars.
The China Ministry of Education announced the 2016 Yangtze River Scholars on April 2, 2017. Guo received his award at that time.
“I am thrilled that Shenyang Guo has been selected to be a Yangtze River Scholar,” said Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton.
“Shenyang’s leadership in working with students and scholars at our partner universities in China has expanded and enhanced collaboration with those institutions and helped nurture numerous global leaders. This new distinction is significant and will strengthen our relationship with Xi’an Jiaotong University. I am very proud of his accomplishments.”
With the award, Guo receives the title of Yangtze River Chaired Professor at Xi’an Jiaotong University in Xi’an, China, and a significant research grant. The award brings funds to enhance collaboration and international exchange between Washington University and Xi’an Jiaotong University, which is part of the McDonnell International Scholars Academy.
As a Yangtze River scholar, Guo will receive significant research funds from the Chinese Ministry of Education to conduct research projects in both sociology and social work and to collaborate with scholars from Xi’an Jiaotong University.
“I am very excited and hope that my work will further strengthen our collaborations with China partner universities,” Guo said. “Being a Yangtze River Scholar at Xi’an Jiaotong University is a great honor. It not only helps my personal research projects in China, but also helps our university, in my role as the assistant vice chancellor for international affairs – Greater China, to develop new, collaborative relations in that country.”
About Xi’an Jiaotong University
Xi’an Jiaotong University is a C-9 League university with special strengths in energy, materials and public health. Founded in Shanghai in 1896 as the Nanyang Public College, Xi’an Jiaotong University is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in China. It is a comprehensive research-oriented university focusing on science and engineering.
Its faculty includes 16 members of the Chinese Academy of Science and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, as well as members of the American Academy of Engineering, the British Royal Academy and the Third-World Academy of Science.
About Shenyang Guo
Shenyang Guo is the author of numerous research articles in child welfare, child mental health services, welfare and health care. He has expertise in applying advanced statistical models to solving social welfare problems and has taught graduate courses that address event history analysis, hierarchical linear modeling, growth curve modeling, propensity score analysis and program evaluation.
In addition, Guo serves on the editorial board of Social Service Review and as a frequent guest reviewer for journals seeking a critique of advanced methodological analyses.
Guo is a fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, and a fellow of the Society of Social Work and Research. He is the McDonnell International Academy ambassador to China working with Fudan University.
April 5 was a special night for members of Washington University’s William Greenleaf Eliot Society, for it marked a half-century of dedicated alumni, friends and parents coming together and giving their valuable time and resources to accelerate the institution’s ascendancy among the world’s finest universities.
Members gather each year to celebrate the university’s accomplishments and to acknowledge the contributions made by Eliot Society members. The organization’s current membership stands at 9,800.
In her opening remarks, Eliot Society President Merry Mosbacher noted its impressive impact:
“Year after year, our members have led the way in annual giving for Washington University. Our gifts help support scholarships, faculty recruitment and retention, innovative research and outstanding academic programs.”
Mosbacher noted that last year’s Eliot Society contributions totaled nearly $21 million in gifts and pledges.
Mosbacher introduced Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton, who showed his gratitude for their hard work and lasting contributions:
“As members of the Eliot Society, you help our talented students develop the intellect and character that last a lifetime. With your support, we challenge our students to reach further, to change themselves and their world for the better, to give back in countless ways.”
A hallmark of the annual celebration is to honor a member whose outstanding contributions have advanced excellence in teaching, research and service to society with the Eliot Society’s highest honor, the Search Award. This year, the honor went to John H. Biggs.
“John’s extraordinary contributions to Washington University have spanned several decades and have made an impact throughout the institution,” Wrighton said.
Biggs, an eminent economist, philanthropist and longtime trustee of Washington University, has been instrumental in helping advance the institutional mission through a variety of roles and across several decades.
After graduating from Harvard University, where he earned a degree in classics, Biggs returned to his native St. Louis and joined the General American Life Insurance Co. He switched to academia when an offer came from then-Chancellor William H. Danforth to serve as Washington University’s vice chancellor for administration and finance. Many of the significant financial and investment improvements made during this time are attributable to his leadership.
Biggs served in this capacity until 1983, when he joined Centerre Trust Co. as chief executive officer. In 1989, he moved to New York, becoming president of TIAA-CREF; he retired in 2002 as its chairman and chief executive officer. With retirement came the opportunity to teach finance at New York University’s Stern Business School.
Throughout his career, Biggs continued his close association with Washington University. As a trustee, he has contributed his time and knowledge to the management of Washington University’s investment endowment and other funds. Currently, he serves on the Educational Policy Committee.
While working here, Biggs earned a doctorate in economics. With his wife, Penelope, who also earned a doctorate from Washington University, in comparative literature, they established endowments for a distinguished professorship as well as an annual lectureship in classics.
Biggs has served on the boards, and as chair, of a number of major corporations as well as the NYC United Way, the NASD, the Getty Trust Board, the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Danforth Foundation.
In addition, Biggs has lent his financial expertise to several accounting oversight boards, including the Financial Accounting Standards Board and another that strongly influenced the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
Among his professional associations are memberships in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Council on Foreign Policy, and he is listed in the National Association of Corporate Directors Hall of Fame.
In St. Louis, Biggs was a founding trustee of the New City School.
John and Penelope’s son, Henry, has been a member of Washington University’s faculty, and has served in various administrative capacities for many years; currently he is an adjunct professor in the School of Law, where he earned his law degree, as well as in Arts & Sciences.
The evening was topped off by a robust presentation from Neil deGrasse Tyson, world-renowned astrophysicist and champion of science literacy.
Uninsured women with breast cancer were nearly 2.6 times more likely to have a late-stage diagnosis than cancer patients who were insured, finds a new study from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.
Uninsured patients were 60 percent more likely to die from the disease, the study revealed.
“Access to screening services may play a role in the association between insurance status and breast cancer stage at diagnosis and survival,” said lead author Kimberly Johnson, associate professor at the Brown School. “Improving access to primary care and mammography screenings in these populations may improve breast cancer outcomes.”
Researchers analyzed cancer registry data from more than 50,000 women age 18-64 who were diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 and 2008. They found that patients with Medicaid were also more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage cancer and have worse survival rates than those with private insurance, although they had better diagnoses and outcomes than uninsured women.
Lower proportions of uninsured, black, unmarried and younger women survived five years following their breast cancer diagnosis (see chart below).
Bacteria are plated in petri dishes in the lab of Gautam Dantas at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Dantas and his colleagues have identified compounds that block resistance to tetracyclines, an important class of antibiotics. These compounds — tetracycline destructase inhibitors — interfere with the resistance machinery of bacteria capable of destroying tetracycline. (Photo: Pablo Tsukayama)
As dangerous bacteria grow more savvy at evading antibiotics, researchers are seeking new ways to counterattack. Rather than design new drugs from scratch, some scientists are searching for ways to block the microbes’ evasive maneuvers. If resistance can be shut down, current drugs should remain effective.
That concept is demonstrated in a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The researchers discovered compounds that block resistance to a major class of antibiotics called tetracyclines. If developed into a drug, such a compound could be given in combination with a tetracycline, should the infection become resistant to tetracycline alone. These types of compounds do not have a direct antimicrobial effect — if given alone, they would not kill bacteria. Instead, they knock down the bacteria’s ability to survive treatment with specific antibiotics.
The research, performed in bacteria grown in the lab, is published May 8 in the journal Nature Chemical Biology.
“These compounds inhibit the ability of tetracycline-resistant bacteria to destroy tetracycline,” said co-senior author Gautam Dantas, an associate professor of pathology and immunology. “We’re gunking up the resistance machinery of bacteria capable of destroying tetracycline. If these bugs can’t chew up this antibiotic anymore, they are re-sensitized to the effects of the drug.”
Tetracyclines are prescribed for a wide variety of bacterial infections, including pneumonia and other infections of the respiratory tract; acne and other skin infections; infections of the genital and urinary systems; and the bacterial infection that causes stomach ulcers. They also are widely used in large farming operations, including the dairy and fish industries.
Despite tetracyclines’ widespread use, bacterial infections have not yet demonstrated aggressive resistance to these drugs via destruction mechanisms. Some bacteria are resistant to tetracyclines through other means, such as pumping the drug out of the cell or blocking the drug from reaching its target, but these strategies are not as effective as destroying the drug entirely. Dantas said conditions are favorable for this destructive type of resistance to ramp up.
The researchers discovered these resistance inhibitor compounds by first conducting genetic surveys of bacteria living in soils from different parts of the country; they were interested in understanding the extent of antibiotic resistance present in bacteria living in the environment. Using a genomic technique that Dantas’ laboratory helped develop, the researchers previously had isolated small fragments of bacterial DNA from soils and screened those pieces for genes that can confer antibiotic resistance in infectious bacteria. These studies demonstrated that soil bacteria are packed with genes that — if transferred into disease-causing bacteria — would allow that bacteria to survive treatment with many common antibiotics.
According to Dantas, one set of genes stood out because the researchers could not find these sequences listed in any genomic database, and these novel genes allowed bacteria to break down tetracycline antibiotics, a problem that has not yet occurred in the many patients treated with tetracyclines.
While the genes are not yet widely present in bacteria causing infections, Dantas and his team determined the genes were at high risk of spreading because of tetracyclines’ widespread use and the fact that even appropriate antibiotic use favors survival of resistant bacteria. In addition, some of the newly discovered resistance genes were located near sections of the bacterial genome known to be capable of jumping between even distantly related bacteria. The resistance genes enable the bacteria to manufacture proteins the researchers dubbed tetracycline destructases because of their ability to break apart tetracycline.
Dantas formed partnerships with co-senior authors Timothy A. Wencewicz, an assistant professor of chemistry, and Niraj H. Tolia, PhD, an associate professor of molecular microbiology, to determine how these destructases work and develop inhibitors that interfere with their ability to break apart tetracycline. Dantas pointed out the importance of collaborations across disciplines to tackle the complex problem of antibiotic resistance. In this case, the researchers are combining expertise in genetics, chemistry, structural microbiology and big data analysis to design inhibitors of tetracycline destructases.
Bacteria carrying tetracycline destructases are not yet at the level of danger posed by superbugs such as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CREs), but their resistance strategies work in similar ways in terms of the ability to destroy an antibiotic. Last year, a CRE infection resistant to all available antibiotics led to the death of a Nevada woman with a recent history of hospitalizations outside the United States.
Targeting resistance has had success in some bacterial infections that have become resistant to another important class of drugs called beta-lactams, which includes penicillin. Tetracycline destructase inhibitors would serve a similar function to beta-lactamase inhibitors. These inhibitors often have been developed alongside their associated beta-lactam drugs and have helped some beta-lactams regain their effectiveness.
Emphasizing the timeliness of the research, Dantas said there is evidence these tetracycline destructase resistance genes are beginning to ramp up the threat to patients with bacterial infections.
“Since we started this work three years ago, one tetracycline destructase now has been found to be present in four of the six most deadly pathogens, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” Dantas said. “This is our motivation for working to find inhibitors of tetracycline destructases.”
This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), grant numbers R01 AI123394 and T32 GM007067.
Park J, Gasparrini AJ, Reck MR, Symister CT, Elliot JL, Vogel JP, Wencewicz TA, Dantas G, Tolia NJ. Plasticity, dynamics and inhibition of emerging tetracycline-resistance enzymes. Nature Chemical Biology. May 8, 2017.
Washington University School of Medicine’s 2,100 employed and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient-care institutions in the nation, currently ranked seventh in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.
Katia and Marielle Labèque are “the best piano duet in front of an audience today” (The New York Times). Susan Graham is “America’s favorite mezzo” (Gramaphone Magazine). The Calidore String Quartet is “remarkable for the precision of [its] expression” and “understated but relentless intensity” (Los Angeles Times).
For its 2017-18 Great Artists Series, Washington University in St. Louis will present three affordably priced concerts by some of today’s finest performers.
Legendary mezzo-soprano Susan Graham performs March 25. (Photo: Dario Acosta)
“Next year’s series will feature a terrific lineup of international, legendary and cutting edge classical-music artists,” said Todd Decker, chair of the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences, which presents the series.
“Katia and Marielle Labèque will open the series Jan. 28 with a program of music by Philip Glass and the two-piano version of Stravinsky’s ‘Rite of Spring,’” Decker said. “On March 25, legendary American mezzo-soprano Susan Graham — an essential star of the international opera and concert stage — will sing an innovative program based on Robert Schumann’s beloved song cycle ‘Frauenliebe und -leben.'”
The series will conclude April 22 with the Calidore String Quartet performing music of Felix Mendelssohn, Dmitri Shostakovich and Ludwig van Beethoven.
“This dynamic young quartet is among the most celebrated newcomers to the international classical-music scene,” Decker said. “We are thrilled to bring this breakout group to St. Louis.”
The Calidore String Quartet performs April 22. (Photo: Sophie Zhai)
Tickets
Subscriptions to all three recitals are $90 and include premier reserved seating, post-concert receptions with the artists (when available), and all ticketing fees.
Single tickets range from $37-40, depending on section, or from $32-35 for seniors and Washington University faculty and staff. Tickets for students and children are $15. Single tickets go on sale Sept. 1.
All three performances take place in the E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall of the 560 Music Center, located at 560 Trinity Ave., at the intersection with Delmar Boulevard. Tickets are available through the Edison Theatre Box Office, 314-935-6543, or at edison.wustl.edu.
Katia and Marielle Labèque. (Photo: Umberto Nicoletti)
Born in Bayonne, France, the Labèques rose to international fame with their two-piano rendition of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” — one of the first gold records in classical music. Their extensive repertoire ranges from contemporary classical to jazz, minimal music and Baroque music performed on period instruments.
Renowned for their energy and synchronicity, the Labèques have performed with leading conductors across Europe and the United States, including Semyon Bychkov, Sir Colin Davis, Seiji Ozawa, Sir Simon Rattle and Leonard Slatkin. They also have worked with composers such as Luciano Berio, Pierre Boulez, György Ligeti and Olivier Messiaen.
In 2015, the siblings joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the world premiere of Philip Glass’ “Double Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra,” which was written for them. Their 2016 performance with the Vienna Philharmonic drew a television audience of 1.5 million and was released on both CD and DVD.
The Labèques have released dozens of recordings, many for their own KML label. Their most recent recording, dedicated to Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” and Debussy’s “Épigraphes Antiques,” was released by Deutsche Grammophon in November 2016.
Graham
Susan Graham
One of today’s foremost opera and recital stars, Graham has won international acclaim for lead roles spanning the 17th century to the present. She has appeared as Monteverdi’s “Poppea,” as Sesto in Mozart’s “La clemenza di Tito,” and as Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie’s “Dead Man Walking” — a role written especially for her.
Graham has been featured on many of the world’s great stages, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Vienna State Opera and Opéra National de Paris. Other major roles include the title parts in Handel’s “Ariodante” and “Xerxes,” Octavian in Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier,” and leads in the world premieres of John Harbison’s “The Great Gatsby” and Tobias Picker’s “An American Tragedy.” Last fall, she returned to “Dead Man Walking” as the convict’s mother in the Washington National Opera’s revival.
Graham’s extensive discography includes the solo albums “Un frisson français,” a program of French song recorded with pianist Malcolm Martineau, and “Virgins, Vixens & Viragos,” which features composers ranging from Henry Purcell to Stephen Sondheim.
Her many honors include a Grammy Award, for her collection of Ives songs, and the French government’s prestigious “Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur,” for her commitment to French music.
Calidore String Quartet
Since forming in 2010, the Calidore String Quartet — violinists Jeffrey Myers and Ryan Meehan, violist Jeremy Berry and cellist Estelle Choi — has emerged as one of the most acclaimed and sought-after chamber ensembles of its generation.
Described by Gramophone as “the epitome of confidence and finesse,” Calidore has performed throughout North America, Europe and Asia, at venues including Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Lincoln Center and Seoul’s Kumho Arts Hall. They have collaborated with artists and ensembles such as Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Joshua Bell and the Quatuor Ébène, among many others.
In 2016, Calidore won top honors at the inaugural M-Prize International Chamber Music Competition, the largest prize for chamber music in the world. Other honors include the 2017 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award and grand prizes in the Fischoff, Coleman, Chesapeake and Yellow Springs competitions.
The quartet’s performances have been broadcast on the BBC, National Public Radio and national television in Canada, Korea and Germany. Recordings include quartets by Mendelssohn and Haydn, and an album commemorating the World War I Centennial, with music of Stravinsky, Paul Hindemith, Darius Milhaud, Jacques de la Presle and Ernst Toch.
The group takes its name from an amalgamation of “California” and “doré,” French for “golden” — a name that suggests both a reverence for its home state and a commitment to cultural diversity.
Gwendolyn Bolden has been appointed director of Parking & Transportation at Washington University in St. Louis, announced Dedric Carter, vice chancellor for operations and technology management.
Bolden is a certified administrator of public parking accredited by the University of Virginia and has worked at universities and municipalities across the nation. She starts July 1.
Bolden most recently served as director of parking and transportation at University of Oregon and has helped manage parking operations at University of Texas at San Antonio, University of North Carolina Wilmington and University of California, Berkeley.
Bolden arrives just as Washington University is making changes to its current parking and transportation system to accommodate construction on the east end of the Danforth Campus. The university is transitioning to a zone parking system, has implemented a permit lottery, added a shuttle system to West Campus and added a ParkSmart option.
“We conducted a nationwide search for a veteran administrator with a strong track record for implementation and leadership,” Carter said. “Gwendolyn has that experience and is dedicated to creating a system that works for students, staff, faculty and visitors. We look forward to having her join the talented staff in Parking & Transportation Services as we proceed.”
As a member of the Regional Parking Association and the International Parking Association, Bolden is at the forefront of industry trends and best practices. Bolden said she is eager to bring those ideas to Washington University.
“I have come to realize that parking may not be rocket science, but it is vitally important in our society,” Bolden said. “I enjoy contributing to the greater task and playing a part in bringing great minds together to collaborate, create and change the world.”
How do you create an artwork light enough to hang from the ceiling but substantial enough to fill an airport terminal?
Over the last four months, eight students in the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design at Washington University in St. Louis have digitally designed, modeled and constructed prototypes for “Spectroplexus,” a new, 100-foot-long public sculpture that is being commissioned by St. Louis Lambert International Airport.
Now students are gearing up to complete the piece, which will be installed on the south side of Terminal 2, above the ticketing lobby. The team will finalize design, begin fabrication and install the work on-site by the end of May.
“’Spectroplexus’ was born out of a collaboration between Washington University and the Lambert Art and Culture Program, which is dedicated to showcasing regional art, culture and design to millions of travelers and visitors each year,” said Jeff Lea, the art program’s coordinator and airport spokesman. “It’s been amazing to watch this project from the ground up to see the design and innovation engineered into what should be an amazing, ‘airborne’ sculpture.”
Rendering of “Spectroplexus,” looking north. The piece will be suspended between four trusses in Terminal 2. (Image: Sam Fox School.)
Hybrid nature
“Structural Substances: Suspended in Air” is the latest in a series of digital fabrication studios taught by Tessmer and Butz. In 2015, their students conceived, designed and assembled “ACCUMULUS,” a temporary outdoor installation commissioned by the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis.
The new project, which will remain on view at the airport for 12-18 months, employs a similar approach and construction techniques. Translucent polycarbonate sheets, dyed with shades of pink and purple, will be suspended within a thin, wire-like lattice of hardened carbon fiber. In design renderings, the piece seems to undulate across the ceiling. Colors emerge softly, like clouds fringed by the rays of the setting sun.
“The concept is based on the hybrid nature of flying machines,” Tessmer explained. “The wing of an airplane is a mechanized form, but it’s also a shape — like the wing of a bird — that we understand from the natural world.
“That idea is reflected in the materials we chose,” she continued. “Carbon fiber is strong, rigid and lightweight, but it also behaves a little unpredictably. There’s variability in the geometry. Polycarbonate is more predictable — it cuts the same every time — but the colored inks we’re using dry very quickly, which gives the panels a lot of texture.
“The project combines elements we can control really well with elements that have a lot more natural variation,” Tessmer added. “Though it has been digitally designed and fabricated, you’ll also see evidence that it has been worked by hand.”
Rendering, looking east. (Image: Sam Fox School.)
Clever management, complex results
“Spectroplexus” will be built from approximately 2,000 subassemblies, each measuring about a foot in length. Once on-site, they’ll be joined together to form a single flowing, wavelike structure.
“Part of the premise of the studio is to develop processes that produce complex results through the clever management of more manual technologies,” Butz said. “Each part must be calibrated not only against the digital model and the tools used to produce them, but against each other.”
“Coordinating these elements at a detail scale has proven to be the most difficult aspect of the project,” Butz added, “but the students are rising to the occasion.”
To build the subassemblies, which are based on a rhombic grid, students will wrap spools of flexible carbon fiber around collapsible molds, which they will fabricate on computer numerical control (CNC) mills at TechShop, the new Cortex maker space. The carbon-wrapped molds then will bake inside industrial powder-coating ovens for about 90 minutes, stiffening the fibers enough to support the polycarbonate panels. These in turn will be cut using a 2D knife plotter in the Sam Fox School’s Digital Fabrication Lab.
“’Structural Substances’ is part of a series of works, led by Lavender and Jason, that produce hybrid assemblies of analog and digital structures,” said Heather Woofter, professor and chair of graduate architecture. It is also part of a larger initiative, coordinated by the school’s Office for Socially Engaged Practice, to promote community relationships through design projects.
“Students interface with clients and experience fabrication challenges unique to built works,” Woofter explained. “In addition to taking on socially complex challenges in architecture, faculty and students are empowered to engage cultural venues to develop theoretical positions and consider unique approaches to practice.”
Colors will gradually shift along the length of the piece. (Image: Sam Fox School.)
Schedule and installation
On May 3, students met with the St. Louis Lambert team and members of its Airport Art Advisory Committee for a final design review.
“The students have researched, monitored and evaluated every factor of the terminal space to guide and inspire their design, construction and materials,” Lea said. “The design speaks to our region and it evokes themes of airports, people and flight. We look forward to seeing thousands of passengers looking up, purposefully, toward the ceiling and to get a glimpse of this new work of art.”
Over the next three weeks, students will work to fabricate the subassemblies, at the rate of about 100-150 per day. Installation will take place in late May, primarily during late evening and early morning hours, to avoid inconveniencing travelers.
Organizers hope to complete installation of “Spectroplexus” by Memorial Day — one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.
“This is a highly trafficked public space,” Butz concluded. “Millions of people pass through annually, while entering or leaving St. Louis.
“Hopefully this project will add to the quality of their experience.”
The graduate architecture students in the studio are: Daniel Ho, Gregory Smolkovich, Yigang Li, Marija Draskic, Rachel Burch, Michael Zhou, Ellie Sonnenwirth Weisz and Samantha Brown.
Students Annie Marggraff (left) and Connie Gan, winners of the Harriet K. Switzer Leadership Awards, visit with Switzer during the Women’s Society of Washington University annual membership meeting April 26. (Photo: Mary Butkus/Washington University)
The Women’s Society of Washington University announced the winners of the Harriet K. Switzer Leadership Award and the Elizabeth Gray Danforth Scholarship during its annual membership meeting April 26.
Leaders of the Women’s Society presented graduating seniors Connie Gan and Annie Marggraff with the Harriet K. Switzer Leadership Award in recognition of the impact they had as undergraduates at Washington University and their exceptional potential for future leadership.
In addition, Rashonda Daniels and Joe Gorman received the prestigious Elizabeth Gray Danforth Scholarship, a full-tuition scholarship program established in 1976 for outstanding community college transfer students.
The Women’s Society operates Bear Necessities, plans events and lectures, and awards scholarship and grant money. This year, the organization held seven open lectures, awarded 24 university and student groups a total of $30,000 in grant funding, and put on the “Composing a Life” program, a panel discussion and networking event for both graduates and students.
Gan
Connie Gan served as a residential peer mentor and peer-led team learning leader for general chemistry for three years, providing academic mentoring to more than 100 students. She also served as a residential advisor.
While maintaining a high GPA, Gan also strove to advance STEM programming and mentorship opportunities for girls.
She helped organize Women in STEM Day, arranging for more than 100 high school girls from the St. Louis region to come to campus for a weekend to attend presentations by professors, participate in hands-on experiments in the laboratories and stay in the residence halls with current STEM students. Gan said some of those students have gone on to attend Washington University and have become leaders in their respective programs.
Gan also participated in Catalysts for Change, a three-tiered program through which undergraduate women are mentored by female chemistry graduate students and in turn mentor local girls to build their confidence in STEM fields.
Marggraff
Not only is Annie Marggraff, a member of the varsity women’s cross country/track-and-field program, she is the founder and co-director of the Bear Cubs Running Team, a running club for autistic children.
During the club’s weekly meetings, the children spend time with a university student-athlete mentor and gain exposure to running in a relaxed environment. Since its founding, the club has grown into a two-session program with over 60 athletes and 70 student coaches. Marggraff is encouraging other universities in the University Athletic Association conference to start their own chapters.
In addition to her work with Bear Cubs, she is president of the university’s Mortarboard College Honor Society and its Pre-Veterinary and Zoological Society. She is also a student chair on the Health and Wellness Committee and is part of the Campus Interview Team, which interviews prospective Washington University students.
Academically, Marggraff conducted evolutionary biology research and worked in an applied behavior analysis clinic with children on the autism spectrum.
Daniels
Rashonda Daniels will graduate from Florissant Valley Community College with a 3.67 GPA as a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honors Program.
A talented artist, Daniels represented Florissant Valley this year in Varsity Art, an exhibition of the best student work from St. Louis colleges and universities. Her devotion to her young, autistic son inspires her to create art that facilitates understanding of the autistic experience.
She has worked for several years as an overnight caregiver, and she also volunteers several hours a week and is active in local autism awareness outreach.
Rashonda Daniels, an Elizabeth Gray Danforth Scholarship winner, shows emotion while speaking to the crowd at the Women’s Society of Washington University meeting. (Photo: Mary Butkus/Washington University)
Gorman
Joe Gorman will graduate from St. Louis Community College at Meramec with a 4.0 GPA as an Honors Program scholar.
As Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society’s vice president of leadership, he spearheaded the 2016-2017 “Honors in Action” project for the Xi Lambda chapter. He is also a founding member of the Student Social Action Committee, an organization promoting progressive social change on campus and within the St. Louis community. He serves his peers on the Academic Appeals committee and as an academic coach, tutor and peer mentor for Student Support Services.
Sustainability champions Nick Annin, Elise Fabbro and Nicola Salzman graduate this month from Washington University in St. Louis poised to fight the globe’s most pressing problem with a powerful tool: the free market.
Though these students support laws and treaties that protect the environment, they also recognize that markets can move faster. And, in this battle, every second counts.
“There is a myth that the economy and the environment are inherently at odds,” said Annin, a senior in the environmental studies program in Arts & Sciences. “We know, in fact, the opposite is true. A healthy economy depends on a healthy environment.”
The three advocates share much in common, including an early admiration for former vice president Al Gore. Each said Gore’s 2006 documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” transformed climate change from a vague cause for concern into, for each of them, a call to action.
Annin remembers watching the film in fourth grade with his father Peter Annin, a renowned environmental journalist. Annin felt as if he might vomit.
“All my life, I had gone camping and the woods were my home,” said Annin, a native of Madison, Wis. “The idea that all of that was threatened was horrifying.”
Salzman, also a senior in environmental studies in Arts & Sciences, was in high school in Boston when she read a book version of “An Inconvenient Truth.” She remembers looking at the adults around her thinking, “Wait? You knew about this? And you’re not doing everything you can to fix it?”
And Fabbro, a law student, remembers her Palo Alto, Calif., high school inviting Gore to deliver his “Inconvenient Truth” presentation live.
“I walked out of there changed,” Fabbro said. “Since then, the environment and our impact on it is what I think when I go to bed at night, and when I wake up in the morning.”
In 2013, they would all arrive at the same time at the Danforth Campus. Annin came to play football for Coach Larry Kindbom; Salzman liked the campus culture; and Fabbro transferred to the School of Law when an admissions officer serendipitously called the day she learned her current program was losing two environmental law experts.
Once here, they all applied to participate in the international climate negotiation seminar. They also each attended the global climate talks, known as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conferencesof the Parties (COP) as a delegate from Washington University.
It’s a unique opportunity, one that few universities extend to undergraduates, said Beth Martin, senior lecturer in environmental studies in Arts & Sciences. At the conferences, the students tracked specific articles of the agreement such as mitigation or finance, and attended negotiations and forums featuring climate leaders such as Gore and former United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon.
“They see how diplomacy works and how words matter,” said Martin, who teaches the international climate seminar and leads the Washington University observer delegation. “The students also meet people whose daily lives and homes are profoundly impacted by climate change. It is both an incredible educational and emotional experience.”
All three students consider the conference the capstone of their academic careers. “We participated in history,” said Fabbro, who attended COP 21 in 2015 in Paris with Annin.
“I asked myself over and over again, ‘How am I here?’” said Salzman, who attended COP 22 in Marrakesh in 2016. “It was an experience unlike one I could ever have in a classroom.”
Fabbro, Annin and Salzman left their respective conferences buoyed. The innovations of engineers, the research of scientists, the resolve of diplomats — the gains were real. And yet each returned, more convinced than ever, that global talks and international treaties can only take us so far. The private sector can — and must — play a pivotal role.
Here’s a closer look at Washington University’s leading sustainability champions and their vision for world for a healthy environment and economy:
Speaking the language
Salzman learned early that sustainability pays.
As a little girl, she put a cardboard box, decorated with a globe, in her dad’s office for aluminum cans. She would then trade the cans for money at her local grocery store.
“I would go there with these huge bags of sticky cans and walk out with a treat,” Salzman said.
Fast forward a decade. As a Gephardt Institute Goldman Fellow, Salzman helped create an energy efficiency master plan for Saint Louis Public Schools, which spends more than $10 million annually for utilities. After a thorough analysis of district buildings, she identified more than $1 million in savings. The district has implemented many of the recommendations such as switching to LED lights and kicking on cooling systems later in the morning.
“This district’s priority is, as it should be, on academics,” Salzman said. “But I showed that a focus on sustainability can mean more money for your core mission.”
Next, Salzman helped the community of University City, Mo., build a commercial recycling program for the Delmar Loop. When Salzman started, only three businesses had joined the free program. Now, 65 businesses participate.
University City Senior Project Manager Jennifer Wendt estimates the program has diverted 27 percent of the Loop’s waste from the landfill. That’s a win for businesses, which get free recycling. It’s also a win for University City, which pays less in landfill fees. And, of course, a win for the earth. The program will now expand to the Olive Boulevard business district.
“To me, saving the planet should be enough,” Wendt said. “But Nicola knows how to speak the business owners’ language. She had terrific success explaining how this program would help their bottom line.”
Salzman served as a leader for a popular pre-orientation program called The Wilderness Project. She loves the outdoors and cycled 2,600 miles across the United States from Charleston, S.C., to San Diego, Calif.
Salzman hopes to continue that work after graduation as an associate consultant at Bain & Company in Chicago. Her goal is to help businesses save money through smart, sustainable practices and to support Bain’s growing alternative energy practice.
Ultimately, she would like to work for a clean power company or an alternative energy interest group. The technology is there, she said, but government subsidies and lower taxes for the fossil fuel industry put alternative fuels at a disadvantage.
“It feels like defeat after defeat when hear about actions to undermine the market for clean power,” Salzman said. “It can be easy to lose hope, but I chose to stick to my values and my goals. I know we’ll get there.”
Building relationships
Tofu is gross, and Annin knows it.
“I’m never going to say, ‘Hey everyone, meat is literally the worst thing you can eat. It’s ruining the planet. If you care about the environment, here is your option — tofu,” Annin said.
“In my experience, scolding doesn’t work. You can’t make sustainability a burden.”
That’s why Annin is a strong advocate for incentive-based solutions to climate change. Through his work at the university’s Office of Sustainability, Student Union and Net Impact, a national club that promotes sustainability in business, Annin organized events and programs that made sustainability simple, even fun. He hosted green jobs advocate Van Jones at Graham Chapel, organized Sustainable Harvest Festival and helped departments find easy ways to reduce energy and waste.
“Nick cares about bringing people in,” said Matthew Bakko, Gephardt Institute research manager. “He knows the way to influence people is to form relationships and have a conversation. We don’t see enough of that in the current debate.”
While he was in Paris in 2015, Annin was charged with observing the negotiations for adaptation and loss and damage. But he got his real education in climate politics while waiting in line for coffee or roaming the corridors of the massive convention hall.
“Every night, they would print the most recent document and hand it out. It was like going to a newsstand in the ’50s,” Annin said. “The diplomats and their staff would pour over them, and I would stand behind people and listen. That’s how you could find out how China or the small island states felt.”
Annin has little faith in government to get climate action right. He said it’s too slow, too bureaucratic and too laden with political baggage. He has learned that the market, with its obsession for quarterly returns, is not much better. Right now, companies don’t pay for the water and air pollution they produce. Those externalized costs are offloaded onto private citizens and local governments. Meanwhile, no value is given to the soil for purifying our water or to trees for removing carbon from the air.
Annin helped bring green jobs activist Van Jones to campus to talk about environmental issues. Annin agrees with Jones that green jobs can grow the economy.
“Companies use the cheapest fuel because they can make society pay for the negative repercussions,” Annin said. “An economic system allows those costs to be externalized, while valuing natural resources at zero is bound to have environmental issues.”
But Annin said markets are slowly recognizing that the environment is an essential part of the economy and wants to pursue a career in sustainable investment after completing a master in finance degree at Olin Business School. He is part of growing movement that believes that sustainable capitalism will deliver greater returns over the long run.
“Investment firms have the power of capital and can make signals about what they think is valuable and why,” Annin said. “You are starting to see investors say that degrading natural resources is not only environmentally unsustainable, it’s economically unsustainable.”
The three ‘P’s
Scientists have figured out how to power our refrigerators with wind, and our Xboxes with sunlight.
But that’s not the hard part. Paying for it is. Enter Fabbro.
“The biggest hurdle remaining, in many cases, is access to capital,” Fabbro said. “Green enterprises require new financial structures and creative legal instruments to get started. That’s where I, as a new sort of corporate lawyer, hope to make a difference.”
In Paris, Fabbro was heartened by the large number of investment bankers ready to discuss how private sector investment can support green technologies and alternative fuels.
“Some of the bankers were environmentalists; some were not,” Fabbro said. “But they all care about the best investment opportunities. It’s their job to know where the market is heading and to adapt. And more and more, you see asset managers investing in companies that will have a positive effect on the environment. They believe those businesses will perform better in the long run and, in fact, they already do.”
Fabbro decided to pursue law to follow in the footsteps of her hero Al Gore. To her, clean water and clean air are human rights.
“And the best way to ensure human rights is through the law,” Fabbro said. “Laws create and protect justice.”
At Washington University, Fabbro worked for the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic and continued her education in environmental science. She also discovered a new passion: tax law. The more she learned about corporate law, the more she realized she needed to earn an MBA.
“I could talk to you about soil horizons and the effects of different chemicals, but I couldn’t tell you about the business side,” Fabbro said. “To be the best lawyer I could be, I knew I needed to understand all angles of green business.”
Fabbro met investment bankers from across the globe at the Paris climate negotiations. She says banks are working to provide capital to green businesses.
Nancy Staudt, dean of the School of Law and the Howard & Caroline Cayne Professor of Law, said Fabbro’s commitment to justice and her nuanced understanding of both environmental and corporate law prepares her to serve our changing economy.
“Elise has the professional and personal skills to play a leadership role in addressing climate change and achieving sustainability,” Staudt said. “She uses her training in law and business, and her thoughtful, energetic, inclusive personal traits, to seek creative yet pragmatic solutions to some of our biggest challenges.”
After graduation, Fabbro will return to California to take the bar exam. She then plans to work on renewable energy financing.
“It’s all about the three Ps — profit, people and planet,” Fabbro said. “We need not sacrifice one for the others.”
Washington University in St. Louis is providing all students, faculty, staff and basic service contractor employees free activation for the personal safety app SafeTrek. Essentially a mobile “blue light,” SafeTrek provides peace of mind and protection in potentially unsafe locations, such as parking garages or dark streets.
