The football team defeated Kenyon College 28-23 Sept. 23 to pick up its first win of the season. 

Sophomore Ryan Bednar’s 84-yard interception return for a touchdown midway through the third quarter gave WUSTL the lead for good. Senior Dan Burkett finished the day 17-of-26 for 149 yards and two TDs and also picked up 59 yards on the yards on the ground on six carries. Senior Chris Castelluccio had up a season-high 99 yards on 27 carries, as WUSTL gained a season-high 161 yards on the ground. Senior wide receiver Drew Sexton had five catches for 82 yards and TD, while senior H-back Trevor LaBarge added five receptions for 41 yards. 

Freshman linebacker Matt Goad made a career-high eight tackles to lead the defensive unit, while senior defensive lineman William Small made seven solo stops. Sophomore linebacker Fade Oluokun added five stops and two break-ups after missing last week’s game against Coe. WUSTL outgained Kenyon 344-285 and had a 32:50-27:10 advantage in time of possession. 

WUSTL (1-3) plays its second road game of the season Saturday, Sept. 29, at DePauw University. Game time is set for 1 p.m. (ET) in Greencastle, Ind. The Tigers are off to an 0-3 start.

Women’s soccer improves to 7-1 with pair of road wins
The No. 12 women’s soccer team improved its overall record 7-1 with a pair of road victories at Illinois Wesleyan University (2-1) Sept. 20 and Rhodes College (3-0)  Sept. 22. 

Junior Jessica Johnson and sophomore Anna Zambricki scored in the win at Illinois Wesleyan. Concluding a five-game road trip on Saturday at Rhodes, junior Lauren Steimle, junior Kate Doyle and senior Nicole Martin scored for WUSTL. Senior goalkeeper Clara Jaques picked up the win in goal in both victories, and made a season-high eight saves at Illinois Wesleyan. 

WUSTL plays its first home game in almost three weeks Tuesday, Sept. 25, against Principia College. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. and will be streamed live on Bear TV.

Women’s golf wins Millikin Fall Classic
The No. 5 women’s golf team shot a blistering 301 on day two to capture the 2012 Millikin University Fall Classic held Saturday-Sunday, Sept. 22-23, at the Red Tail Run Golf Course in Decatur, Ill. 

Sophomore Olivia Lugar (74), senior Hannah Buck (75), freshman Connie Zhou (75) and junior Andrea Hibbert (77) all broke 80 on the second day of competition. Senior Melanie Walsh rounded out the starting lineup with an 84. Lugar captured medalist honors for the second-straight year at the Millikin Fall Classic after defeating Gabbi Schuerman of host Millikin University in a one-hole playoff. Lugar finished the two-day event with a 149 (75-74) en route to her second title this season and sixth of her career. 

WUSTL cruised to its second team title of the fall by 30 strokes after completing the event with a two-day score of 617 (316-301). No. 10 Illinois Wesleyan was second with a 647 (324-323), while Illinois Wesleyan JV (339-331, 670), NCAA Division II Truman State University (348-325, 673) and Carthage College (343-330, 673) rounded out the top five. 

Zhou continued her consistent play in her rookie campaign by finishing a stroke behind Lugar and Schuerman to finish third with a 150 (75-75). Through her first six rounds in the fall, Zhou has a 78.3 average. Hibbert also had a top-five finish with a two-day total of 157 (80-77) to finish in a tie for fourth place. Buck found her groove on day two after an opening round 87 to finish tied for 10th with a 36-hole score of 162 (87-75). The top-10 finish for Buck was the 28th of her career. Walsh also had a nice tournament in her first start of the year, finishing 23rd with a 170 (86-84). Freshman Erin Lawrence (89-82, 171, T-24th place), junior Allyson Chee (86-88, 174, T-32nd place), and sophomore MacKenzie Findlay (89-94, 183, T-49th place) also competed as individuals for WUSTL. 

WUSTL has a week off before returning to action on Sunday-Monday, Oct. 7-8, at the Birmingham Southern College Shootout at Highland Park Golf Club in Birmingham, Ala.

Men’s soccer splits matches
The No. 9 men’s soccer team split a pair of matches last week, earning a 1-0 win at Greenville College, before suffering its first loss of the season, a 3-0 setback, to No.8 Wheaton College. 

Freshman Ike Witte scored his first career goal in the 52nd minute to give WUSTL a 1-0 win at Greenville Tuesday, Sept. 18. On Friday, Wheaton scored twice in the first half and added a third goal in the second half en route to a 3-0 victory over the Bears. 

WUSTL (5-1-1) returns to action at Fontbonne University Wednesday, Sept. 26. The Bears and Griffins are set to square off at 7 p.m. at Gay Field in Clayton, Mo. 

WUSTL then travels to Pittsburgh on Sunday, Sept. 30, to face Carnegie Mellon University in the University Athletic Association (UAA) opener at 1:30 p.m. (ET).

Men’s tennis competes at USTA/ITA Central Regional
Senior Adam Putterman posted a pair of straight-set victories on Sunday to advance to the championship match in singles of the 2012 USTA/ITA Central Regional Championships in Indianapolis, Ind. 

Putterman, the top-seed in the 128-man draw, defeated No. 16 seed Eric Klawitter of Case Western Reserve University (6-0, 6-2) and No. 13 seed Kyle Gerber of Case Western Reserve (6-0, 6-2) to advance to Monday’s championship match.

Putterman will take on No. 2 seed Paul Burgin of Kenyon College on Monday at 9 a.m. (ET). Putterman defeated Burgin three times a year ago, all in straight sets. Putterman was one of four Bears who advanced to the round of 16 in singles: senior Kareem Farah, junior Tim Noack and senior Gary Parizher. Noack made an appearace in the quarterfinals as the No. 15 seed before falling to Wade Herboth of Kenyon, 6-3, 6-7 (7-3), 7-5. Farah, the No. 21 seed, dropped his round of 16 match to Burgin, 6-2, 6-3, while Parizher, the No. 7 seed, was taken down by Gerber in the round of 16, 7-6 (8-6), 7-5. 

WUSTL had four doubles teams reach the round of 16 and two in the quarterfinals. Top-seeded Adam Putterman and sophomore Ross Putterman advanced to the quarterfinals before being upset by Heerboth and Robert Turlington of Kenyon, 8-6. Parizher and junior Jeffrey Hirsh made a run to the quarters as an un-seeded team before being defeated by third-seeded Samuel Geier and CJ Williams of Kenyon, 8-3. 

In the B Singles Draw, junior Max Franklin and sophomore Eric Zishka advanced to the quarterfinals before dropping a match on Saturday. In the B doubles draw, junior Naveen Chadalavada and Zishka defeated Eric Bruynseels and Eric Vannatta of DePauw University, 8-5, in the championship match on Sunday. With the win, Chadalavada and Zishka gain an automatic bid to the main draw at the 2013 USTA/ITA Central Regional.

Tobias Wegner stars in Leo, the wordless tale of a man who escapes gravity. The show will be presented Oct. 5 and 6 as part of the Edison Ovations Series. Photo by Andy Phillips. Download hi-res version.

Well. Of course it does.

Newton’s Universal Law of Gravity is a pillar of physics, a monument of mathematics, a timeless, unchanging tribute to scientific reasoning.

Tell it all to Leo, when his world goes suddenly, inexplicably topsy-turvy. Though at first disconcerted, this unflappable everyman quickly grows curious and then increasingly playful, nonchalantly scaling the walls like a cross between Buster Keaton and Spiderman.

On Oct. 5 and 6, Edison will present Leo, the newest creation from Berlin’s Circle of Eleven, as part of its fall Ovations Series. Conceived by and starring the acrobatic Tobias Wegner, the surreal one-man show is “an eye-teasing, grin-inducing, deeply impressive work of sustained absurdist magic” (Time Out New York).

Tobias Wegner as Leo. Photo by Andy Phillips. Download hi-res version.

The winner of three major awards at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Leo cleverly splits the stage between live performance and video projection. The audience watches both versions at once.

Yet the camera is askew: the floor of one room becomes the wall of the other. A simple action, such as standing upright, can appear an impossible feat, while merely sitting can require virtuoso gymnastics, with Wegner casually positioned cross-legged on the wall.

But even while adjusting to such novel physics, Leo becomes lonely and eventually exhausted with his confinement. Soon, however, he discovers a new source of adventure, hidden within a mysterious suitcase that may, or may not, provide the key to freedom.

“The joy of Leo is partly seeing his gravity-defying antics as his world and ours collide,” says Three Weeks: Edinburgh. “Mostly, however, it’s from watching the amazing performance put in by Wegner as he presents an utterly convincing impression of altered gravity, dancing brilliantly and even playing the sax.”

Or, as The New York Times puts it, “the audience gets gravity-defying spectacle and the wizard behind the curtain at the same time.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqKG9hFZexsLeo video preview

Tickets and sponsors

Performances of Leo take place at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 5 and 6. Tickets are $36, or $32 seniors, $28 for Washington University faculty and staff and $20 for students and children.

Tickets are available at the Edison Box Office and through all MetroTix outlets. Edison Theatre is located in the Mallinckrodt Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd.

For more information, call (314) 935-6543, e-mail edison@wustl.edu or visit edison.wustl.edu.

Edison programs are made possible with support from the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency; the Regional Arts Commission, St. Louis; and private contributors.

For anyone who doubts the power of storytelling to change the world, teacher Erin Gruwell’s personal story of transforming students who were labeled stupid and apathetic into confident, motivated high school graduates will erase that doubt for good.

Gruwell

When Gruwell walked into class on her first day as an English teacher, she was met by a room full of angry, frustrated teenagers who were determined to hate everything about her, the school, even themselves. She didn’t know how to break through the invisible barrier that kept her students from learning. What she did know is that everyone in the school had written off these teens.

After learning about the hardships in these teens’ lives — an environment full of racism, rejection and the tragedy of seeing no hope for the future — she understood why they saw no point in reading and writing.

Gruwell also understood their need for self-expression, so her students began writing anonymous journal entries about their lives. 

After seeing a film about the Freedom Riders, a group of teenagers who showed remarkable bravery during the Civil Rights Movement, the class decided to call themselves the Freedom Writers. In 1999, their entries became a best-selling book called The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them. In 2007, Hilary Swank played Gruwell in the Freedom Writers film.

Today, Gruwell runs The Freedom Writers Foundation, which she started in 1997. The foundation trains educators to use innovative techniques to change the world, one class at a time.

Gruwell earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Irvine, and a master’s degree and teaching credentials from California State University, Long Beach.

For more information on this event and other Assembly Series programs, visit assemblyseries.wustl.edu or call 314-935-5297.

Health and human services organizations and programs are in constant growth and movement, and the need to effectively evaluate the impact of those initiatives in the community is greater than ever.

 

“The Social Impact Summit represents the sea change occurring in the St. Louis social sector,” says Amanda Moore McBride, PhD, associate professor and associate dean in the Brown School. “No longer is evaluation seen as perfunctory, something required by funders that we must do. Instead, it is increasingly recognized as a tool for organizational leadership and effectiveness.”

The aim of the summit is to connect the interest in evaluation with current science and provide a summary of the state of evaluation in the field, by different topical areas: community development, arts & culture, public health, and entrepreneurship. It will bring together experts and professionals in keynotes, panel discussions, workshops and networking receptions.

“We encourage organizations to be represented as teams, so that stakeholder groups — board members, executive directors and program-level staff – can share the information and the skills they will learn through the summit to help institutionalize change in their organizations,” McBride says.

Technology will be used throughout the two-day summit so it can be structured as a two-way conversation in real time, McBride says. “We are using the state-of-the-art facilities of the Nine Network. Streaming video and Twitter feeds will be utilized; we also will have onsite polling through the use of text messaging.

“When attendees hear a presentation, we will want to know if that fits their context or not? What more do they need to know about that technique to integrate within their agency?”

This conversation, McBride says, is just the beginning.

“The summit sponsors are committed to increasing the capacity of the social sector going forward,” McBride says.

For more information, or to register, visit brownschool.wustl.edu/EvaluationSummit/ or email evaluationsummit@wustl.edu.

Ralph G. Dacey Jr., MD, the Henry G. and Edith R. Schwartz Professor and head of the Department of Neurosurgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, will be the Honored Guest at the annual meeting of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS).

Dacey

Previous recipients of the annual honor include Henry Schwartz, MD, who led the Department of Neurosurgery at the School of Medicine from 1946 to 1974, and his successor, Sydney Goldring, MD, who was head of the department from 1974 to 1989. Dacey became head in 1989.

The CNS is dedicated to improving the education and career development of aspiring and established neurological surgeons.

Dacey is currently serving as president of the Society for Neurological Surgeons. He was inducted to the Institute of Medicine in 2011.

About 150 volunteers still are needed this weekend for Service First. Through this annual community service project, WUSTL sends student, staff and faculty volunteers to help brighten public schools in St. Louis City and University City.

Originally set for Sept. 1, with more than 1,000 volunteers participating, Service First was rescheduled due to inclement weather. Now, Service First is being held from noon-5 p.m. the next three Saturdays: Sept. 29, Oct. 6 and Oct. 13.

Typically held during Labor Day weekend, Service First is an opportunity for new students to volunteer with area public schools. The event, however, is open to all students. Bus transportation is provided from the South 40.

There are opportunities for upperclassmen, student group leaders and advisers to serve in leadership roles on any or all of the three dates. Student groups can “sponsor” a school by providing the volunteers for those projects.

Faculty and staff also are encouraged to take part, providing on-site leadership and support. Volunteers will participate in a number of projects, such as painting indoor and outdoor murals, creating bulletin boards and preparing classrooms. The projects are developed in collaboration with school principals and their staffs. 

Service First schedule:

Saturday, Sept. 29 — 150 volunteers needed

Nance Elementary, Stix Early Childhood Center, Washington Montessori

Saturday, Oct. 6 — 100 volunteers needed

Fanning Middle School, Patrick Henry High School

Saturday, Oct. 13 — 350 volunteers needed

Brittany Woods Middle, Gateway IT High, Hamilton Elementary, KIPP: Inspire Academy, Pamoja Prep @ Cole Elementary, University City High School

More information can be found on the Community Service Office website. Sign up online at http://communityservice.wustl.edu/sf.
For more information, email shiloh.venable@wustl.edu.

For most people, West Nile infections do not cause symptoms. But in people 50 and older and those with weakened immune systems, West Nile can potentially become life-threatening. Infection rates tend to peak in July, August and September, but the season can continue well into the fall, especially in warmer regions.

West Nile virus expert Michael Diamond, MD, PhD, professor of infectious diseases and of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is working to develop better treatments for the virus. He talks about this year’s West Nile virus infections and offers tips for avoiding the virus. 

http://youtu.be/WlX4J_-phtY

A graduate of The Juilliard School, Waters joined Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1968 and toured with the Company until 1974, when Ailey personally selected her to serve as artistic director of Ailey II — a position she held for 38 years.

Roxas danced with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Ohad Naharin and Joyce Trisler Dance Company before joining Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, where she served as a principal dancer from 1984-1998. The New York Times described her as “a cool, still, lyrical center of the Ailey storm.”

Chelsea Clinton announced during the annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York on Sept. 25 that Washington University in St. Louis will serve as the host of the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U), April 5-7, 2013, on the Danforth Campus. 

Building on the successful model of the Clinton Global Initiative, which brings together world leaders to take action on global challenges, President Bill Clinton launched CGI U in 2007 to engage the next generation of leaders on college campuses around the world. Each year, CGI U hosts a meeting where students, youth organizations, topic experts and celebrities discuss solutions to pressing global issues.

“Washington University is proud to serve as the host of the 2013 Clinton Global Initiative University,” says Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton.

“We look forward to warmly welcoming the many CGI U visitors to our campus and to St. Louis in April," Wrighton says. "Public service and global leadership are at the heart of our mission. We share President Clinton’s vision for preparing young people who will contribute to solving the world’s most urgent problems.”

The meeting at WUSTL will bring together nearly 1,200 attendees to make a difference in CGI U's five focus areas: education, environment and climate change, peace and human rights, poverty alleviation and public health.

“Washington University was selected for this leadership role in part because of our institutional commitment to training the next generation of civic leaders,” says Amanda Moore McBride, PhD, director of the university’s Gephardt Institute for Public Service and associate dean at the Brown School.

“The excitement and spirit of CGI U will be felt through university events leading up to and after the annual CGI U Meeting, from the Gephardt Institute's current election activities through the Faces of Hope celebration.”

Approximately 200 WUSTL undergraduate and graduate students will be able to directly participate in CGI U and there will be additional volunteer opportunities during the meeting.

Visit www.cgiu.org for more information and to apply to CGI U.

Neurologists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received funding to study the brain following repeat concussions. The project is one of 15 around the country selected by NFL Charities, the charitable foundation of the National Football League Owners.

“We are excited about investigating what happens to the brain’s wiring system following concussions,” says David L. Brody, MD, PhD, associate professor of neurology. “We’re honored that the NFL has given us the opportunity to contribute to a greater understanding of the aftereffects of repetitive concussive brain injuries. We hope that this will lead to better ways to prevent and treat them.”

Brody

Last year, Brody’s group published a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine describing how they were able to use the same MRI method to analyze the wiring in the brains of U.S. military personnel who had suffered blast-related injuries in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“There are a number of differences between blast-related injuries and repetitive sports-related concussions,” Brody says. “So it will be critical to validate the MRI method in a model of repetitive concussion to help us understand the meaning of any findings we may observe in human patients.”

Other institutions receiving grants include Columbia University, The Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Yale University School of Medicine and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Studies at those centers will focus heavily on damage from concussions but also will look at the effects of helmet, facemask and shoulder pad designs on airway and cardiovascular care and a sleep apnea program that focuses on NFL players.

“We are proud to support sports-related medical research through NFL Charities Medical Research Grants,” says NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “These research projects have implications far beyond football, and we are committed to playing a role in helping make sports safer.”

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 sixth 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.

Studying leukemia in mice, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have reduced a life-threatening complication of stem cell transplants, the only curative treatment when leukemia returns.

About 50 percent of leukemia patients who receive stem cells from another person develop graft-versus-host disease, a condition where donor immune cells attack the patient’s own body. The main organs affected are the skin, liver and gut. Now, the scientists have shown they can redirect donor immune cells away from these vital organs. Steering immune cells away from healthy tissue also leaves more of them available for their intended purpose -- killing cancer cells.

DiPersio

The study is now available online in Blood.

Working with mice, Jaebok Choi, PhD, research assistant professor of medicine, showed that eliminating or blocking a particular protein – the interferon gamma receptor -- on donor T-cells makes them unable to migrate to critical organs such as the intestines but still leaves them completely capable of killing leukemia cells.

“The fact that blocking the interferon gamma receptor can redirect donor T-cells away from the gastrointestinal tract, at least in mice, is very exciting because graft-versus-host disease in the gut results in most of the deaths after stem cell transplant,” DiPersio says. “People can tolerate graft-versus-host disease of the skin. But in the GI tract, it causes relentless diarrhea and severe infections due to gut bacteria leaking into the blood, which can result in severe toxicity, reduction in the quality of life or even death in some patients.”

Long known to be involved in inflammation, the roles of interferon gamma, its receptor and their downstream signaling molecules are just beginning to be described in the context of graft-versus-host disease, says DiPersio, who treats patients at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine.

The cascade begins when interferon gamma activates its receptor. The interferon gamma receptor then activates molecules known as JAK kinases, followed by STAT, and finally CXCR3. CXCR3 mediates the trafficking of donor T-cells to the GI tract and other target organs.

Choi

“There are probably additional downstream targets of interferon gamma receptor signaling other than JAKs, STATs and CXCR3 that are responsible for T-cell trafficking to the GI tract and other target organs,” DiPersio says. “We’re trying to figure out what those are.”

To move their findings closer to possible use in humans, Choi and DiPersio also showed that they could mimic the protective effect of deleting the interferon gamma receptor with existing drugs that block JAK kinases. In this case, they tested two JAK inhibitors, one of which is currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat myelofibrosis, a pre-leukemic condition in which the bone marrow is replaced with fibrous tissue.

While they showed that JAK inhibitors are effective in redirecting donor T-cells away from target organs and reducing graft-versus-host disease in mice with leukemia, they have not yet tested whether these drugs also preserve the desired anti-leukemia effect.

“The proof-of-principle behind these experiments is the exciting part,” DiPersio says. “If you can change where the T-cells go as opposed to killing them, you prevent the life-threatening complications and maintain the clinical benefit of the transplant.”

Choi J, Ziga ED, Ritchey J, Collins L, Prior JL, Cooper ML, Piwnica-Worms D, DiPersio JF. INF gamma receptor signaling mediates alloreactive T cell trafficking and GvHD. Blood. Online Sept. 12, 2012.

This work was supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute (R01 CA83845 and R21 grants CA110489, CA132269, CA141523 P01 CA101937, P50 CA94056, the Bryan Thomas Campbell Foundation, the Molecular Imaging Center Pilot Research Project 2010 Awards (P50 CA94056), the Translational Oncology Group at the Washington University School of Medicine, the Siteman Cancer Center Research Development Awards in Developmental Therapeutics, and the American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant (IRG-58-010-53).

Student, faculty and staff presenters are being sought for a multimedia "Ignite" event that will be held at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 17, in the Tisch Commons of the Danforth University Center.

Ignite presentations, which began in Seattle in 2006, are fast-paced, fun, five-minute presentations of 20 PowerPoint slides that automatically advance every 20 seconds.

The theme for the presentations at the WUSTL event is “what you care about this election year.” Participants, who must register in advance, may talk about any topic on their minds that relates to the overall theme of the election.

The evening is being sponsored by the Gephardt Institute for Public Service, the John C. Danforth Center on Religion & Politics, the Campus Y, the Brown School and the Social Justice Center. To learn more about the history and format of Ignite presentations, visit ignite.com.

To register to be a presenter, email Kitty Conroy at conroyr@wustl.edu. Participants must provide a presentation title by Monday, Oct. 1, and a complete timed PowerPoint by Thursday, Oct. 11.

All students interested in studying abroad are invited to attend the third annual Study Abroad Showcase. The event is taking place from 4-6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3, in College Hall on the South 40.

The showcase provides a broad overview of the many program options. Students who have participated in programs will share their first-hand experiences. 

To learn more, visit overseas.wustl.edu.

Poet Eileen G'Sell will perform with guitarist William Lenihan Oct. 4 as part of the Jazz at Holmes Series.

At 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 4, guitarist William Lenihan and poet Eileen G’Sell will put that analogy to the test with “The New Beat Generation,” an evening of improvised music and poetry, presented as part of the Jazz at Holmes Series.

“This will be a nearly completely spontaneous endeavor with perhaps a few thematic cues to improvise from,” says Lenihan, director of jazz studies in the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences.

“Jazz, improvisation and poetry, as well as composed music and poetry, share an extensive historic connection across the world,” Lenihan adds. “We thought it would be interesting to explore our own work together, and to bring light to these complimentary worlds of communication."

G’Sell earned a MFA from WUSTL’s Writing Program in Arts & Sciences in 2006. She is a lecturer in English as well as publications editor at the Kemper Art Museum. Her poetry has been published (or is forthcoming) in journals such as the Conduit, Boston Review and Harp & Altar.

William Lenihan

Also performing will be drummer Steve Davis, teacher of applied music, and bassist Eric Stiller.

Jazz at Holmes

All Jazz at Holmes concerts are free and open to the public and take place from 8 to 10 p.m. in Holmes Lounge, located in Ridgley Hall, on the west side of Brookings Quadrangle.

The series will continue the following week, at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 11, with trumpeter Bob Ceccarini performing “Tin Pan Alley and the Music of Jerome Kern.” Todd Decker, assistant professor of music, will introduce. Subsequent concerts will include:

Oct. 25
Saxophonist Ron Goff and his quartet

Nov. 1
Saxophonist Rob Nugent and vocalist Kim Fuller
“Music of Cannonball Adderley and Nancy Wilson”

Nov. 8
Lenihan and his group
“Electric Miles and Hendrix Confluence.” The concert will mark what would have been the 70th birthday of Jimi Hendrix.

Nov. 15
Dancer Ashley Tate and the St. Louis Creative Artists Jazz Ensemble
“Freedom Jazz Dance”

Nov. 29
Kim Fuller Quartet
“Songs of Love, Work and Protest Songs”
Introductory remarks by Patrick Burke, associate professor of music.

Dec. 6
WUSTL Jazz Studies student groups

For more information, call (314) 862-0874; visit ucollege.wustl.edu/jazz; friend Jazz at Holmes on Facebook; or email staylor@wustl.edu.

Jazz at Holmes is sponsored by Washington University’s College of Arts & Sciences, Student Union, Congress of the South 40, Department of Music, University College and Summer School, Campus Life, Danforth University Center and Event Management, Community Service Office, Office of Student Involvement and Leadership, Greek Life Office, and Office of Residential Life.

Any member of the Washington University or St. Louis communities, past or current, is eligible to receive the award. This includes undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, staff, alumni, retirees, friends of the university and St. Louis community members. Self-nominations also are permitted.

Holobaugh was a WUSTL student and cadet in the campus Reserve Officer Training Corps program. In 1989, after coming out as gay to his squad commander, Holobaugh was removed from the program and ordered to repay the U.S. Army for his scholarship.

Eventually succumbing to pressure from campus groups and LGBT rights organizations across the country — in addition to an impassioned response from WUSTL administrators — the Army reversed its decision. Holobaugh went on to travel across the country, engaging diverse groups in dialogue on issues of service and citizenship.

Nomination forms are online:

https://getinvolved.wustl.edu/LGBT/programs_and_events/Pages/Holobaugh-Nomination-Form.aspx

RSVP for the event below:

https://getinvolved.wustl.edu/LGBT/Pages/RSVP-Form.aspx.

For more information, contact Saida Bonifield at lgbt@wustl.edu.

Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton has announced two important promotions, effective Oct. 1.

James V. Wertsch, PhD, the Marshall S. Snow Professor in Arts & Sciences, director of the McDonnell International Scholars Academy, and associate vice chancellor for international affairs, has been promoted to vice chancellor for international affairs. He will be the university official responsible for international programs and initiatives.

John A. Berg, associate vice chancellor for admissions, has been promoted to vice chancellor and will continue to preside over an admissions and financial aid team that has been responsible for the extraordinary rise in the number of students who want to attend Washington University.

Wertsch joins Berg as a member of WUSTL’s University Council, which comprises the chief administrative officers and deans of the university.

“I am pleased to be able to recognize the contributions that Jim and John have made to the overall success of Washington University,” Wrighton says. “At the same time, these appointments underscore the importance and the impact of our international efforts and our admissions program. We would not be the same university without these essential areas and their outstanding leaders.”

James V. Wertsch

Wertsch

“The academy has become WUSTL’s most successful international program,” Wrighton says, “and Jim’s leadership of and passion for the program are the key reasons for its success. The depth and breadth of Jim’s understanding of international relations and societal issues have made him an extraordinary leader of the academy since its very beginning.”

In addition to his work with the McDonnell Academy, he holds faculty appointments in anthropology, education, psychology and philosophy-neuroscience-psychology, all in Arts & Sciences. He joined the faculty of Arts & Sciences in 1995 as professor and chair of the Department of Education. Since joining the faculty, he has played a major role in developing several areas of research and teaching in Arts & Sciences. He is a guest professor at Fudan University in Shanghai, Tsinghua University in Beijing and the University of Oslo, and also is a fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

An expert on collective memory and identity, he has particular interest in how these issues play out in Russia, Estonia and the Republic of Georgia. He is working on several projects in the Republic of Georgia, including collaboration with colleagues on efforts to understand the emergence of civil society and democracy in Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union, as well as in the United States.

After earning a PhD from the University of Chicago in 1975, Wertsch spent a year as a postdoctoral fellow in Moscow, where he studied linguistics and neuropsychology. He then went on to hold faculty positions at Northwestern University, the University of California, San Diego, and Clark University.

He also has had visiting positions at Moscow State University (Fulbright Senior Scholar, 1984); the University of Utrecht (the Belle van Zuylen Chair, 1987-88); the University of Seville (visiting professor, 1992-93); the Scandinavian Collegium for Advanced Study in Social Sciences (visiting scholar, 1998); Bristol University (Benjamin J. Meaker Distinguished Visiting Professor, 2000); and Oslo University (professor II, 2005-11).

Wertsch holds honorary degrees from Linköping University in Sweden and the University of Oslo in Norway, and he is an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Education.

John A. Berg

Berg

After earning a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and a master’s of business administration from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, Berg became general manager of the Savannah Symphony Orchestra in Georgia and then finance director of the Kennedy Center’s National Symphony Orchestra.

In 1987, he accepted the position of assistant to Chancellor William H. Danforth, now chancellor emeritus and life trustee. In that role, Berg helped many of the schools’ deans establish national councils, among his many other duties and responsibilities.

Two years later, he became associate vice chancellor for finance, a position in which he oversaw the University’s accounting, auditing and budgeting areas, before taking over the helm in admissions in 1994.

“Prior to John’s leadership, applications to WUSTL had remained about the same for well over 10 years,” Wrighton says. “He has seen to it that Washington University’s story is told honestly and accurately to prospective students and their parents.

“He has recruited the entire WUSTL family — students, parents, faculty, staff, alumni — to be a part of the admissions team. He is often heard to say that, while he has enjoyed everything he’s done in his career, nothing has been more rewarding than coming to work every day in the admissions office.”