The Friday, Dec. 6, meeting of the Washington University in St. Louis Board of Trustees focused on the challenges and opportunities for the School of Medicine, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton.
The board also elected a new trustee. WUSTL alumnus Richard P. Mattione, PhD, head of the International Active Division and portfolio manager at Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co. (GMO) of Boston, was elected as a new Ethan A.H. Shepley Trustee for a four-year term ending in December 2017.
The board meeting opened with a presentation, titled “Aspects of the Academic Medical Center: Education, Research, Clinical Programs,” by Larry J. Shapiro, MD, executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, and Steven H. Lipstein, president and CEO of BJC HealthCare.
Following the presentation, the trustees broke into small groups to discuss the following related topics: clinical affairs; research; community health/public health; finances; and education.
In his report to the trustees, Wrighton noted that Lorraine Goffe-Rush, WUSTL’s assistant vice chancellor for human resources, will become the next vice chancellor for human resources when Ann B. Prenatt, vice chancellor since 2003, retires Dec. 31.
The Admissions Office reports that campus visits this year by prospective students are up — possibly the highest in WUSTL history, Wrighton said. While the application deadline is not until Jan. 15, the Admissions Committee expects to review a strong and sizeable group of applicants for the fall 2014 class.
A more complete admissions update will be given at the March board meeting, after all applications have been reviewed.
Construction update
Wrighton gave an update on construction projects on both the Danforth and Medical campuses as well as in the Delmar Loop.
On the Danforth Campus, he reported that work continues on the Brown School expansion and that Bauer Hall and Knight Hall, part of the Olin Business School expansion, are on track to open in the spring.
He said planning has begun for the fitness, recreation and athletic facilities. A design review meeting with students was held in November. Construction is planned to begin immediately after Commencement in 2014 and will be completed by the end of summer 2016.
The Delmar Loop Student Living Initiative, now known as The Lofts of Washington University, continues on schedule. Students will begin to occupy these new loft apartments at the beginning of the 2014 academic year.
WUSTL and the Department of Anthropology in Arts & Sciences took a major step recently, Wrighton noted. Research and teaching labs and classroom space in the 106-year-old McMillan Hall were brought into the 21st century with the opening of a new state-of-the art, 9,000-square-foot addition.
Built directly north of McMillan on Throop Drive, the addition features an environmentally friendly green roof, a 174-seat pooled Arts & Sciences classroom and three new anthropology teaching labs, all with state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment.
Among the construction projects at the Medical Campus that Wrighton noted are the new Scott McKinley Research Building, which will be shared by the Department of Genetics, Center for Genomic Science, the Department of Medicine, Regenerative Medicine and Cellular Imaging. Construction is scheduled to begin this summer with a 2015 completion target.
Construction on the new Environmental Health & Safety Processing and Central Services building will begin in March and is scheduled to be completed by February 2015.
Work continues on new access ramps on Interstate 64 at Tower Grove Avenue, a project being managed by the Missouri Department of Transportation.
Faculty, student achievements
Wrighton also told the trustees about a number of recent faculty and student awards, including:
- Joshua Aiken, a senior in Arts & Sciences, was one of 32 Americans chosen Nov. 23 as a Rhodes Scholar.
- Michael J. Holtzman, MD, the Selma and Herman Seldin Professor of Medicine, and Rohit V. Pappu, PhD, professor of biomedical engineering, were named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society.
- Gerald Early, PhD, the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters in Arts & Sciences, was one of five new members nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate to the National Council on the Humanities.
- Holden Thorp, PhD, WUSTL provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, was elected as one of three new trustees to the National Humanities Center.
- The School of Medicine’s Evan D. Kharasch, MD, PhD, and J. Evan Sadler, MD, PhD, were elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors that medical scientists in the United States can receive.
- Timothy J. Eberlein, MD, the William K. Bixby Professor of Surgery and chairman of the Department of Surgery at the School of Medicine, was inducted this fall as an honorary fellow into the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, one of the world’s oldest organizations dedicated to advances in surgery.
- Roberto Civitelli, MD, the Sydney M. and Stella H. Schoenberg Professor of Medicine, was elected president of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, the world’s leading scientific organization for bone health research.
Two new professorship installations at the School of Medicine will take place, Wrighton told the trustees. Mario Castro, MD, will be installed Dec. 12 as the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Professor of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, and Laura Bierut, MD, will be installed Jan. 16 as a new Alumni Endowed Professor.
In Arts & Sciences, Joan Strassmann, PhD, will be installed Jan. 23 as the Charles Rebstock Professor of Biology.
Wrighton reported that the athletic teams had stellar seasons. Most notably, the football team finished the 2013 season with an 8-3 overall record and made its second NCAA playoff appearance in school history; the women’s soccer team, which set a single-season school record with a 20-1-1 overall mark, advanced to the Elite 8 for the third-straight season before suffering a 3-2 shootout loss to Capital University; and the volleyball team finished the season with a 27-8 record and made its 27th-straight trip to the NCAA tournament.
Freshman volleyball player Caroline Dupont was selected to the Division III All-America First Team and named the National Freshman of the Year, and WUSTL freshman wide receiver Zach Strittmatter is one of five winners of the 2013 National Football Foundation National High School Scholar-Athlete Award.
Although still early in the basketball season, Wrighton noted good starts for both teams.
The trustees passed a memorial resolution in honor of longtime emeritus trustee Harvey Saligman, who died Nov. 15 at age 75. Saligman, who was managing partner in Cynwyd Investments, a family real-estate partnership, and former CEO of Interco, had served on the board since 1986.
The board also supported resolutions expressing its profound thanks and appreciation to Kent D. Syverud, JD, the Ethan A.H. Shepley Distinguished University Professor and dean of the School of Law for the past eight years, as he leaves to become chancellor of Syracuse University; and to Prenatt, as she retires after an 18-year tenure in Human Resources serving the faculty and staff.
The trustees heard reports from the following standing committees: development, educational policy, nominating and governance, university finance and the Alumni Board of Governors.
More on Richard Paul Mattione, PhD
At GMO, Mattione is responsible for the International Active Division’s equity investments in Japan, Hong Kong and Latin America.
Prior to joining GMO, Mattione worked as an economist and market strategist at J.P. Morgan & Co. in Tokyo and New York.
Previously, he was a research associate in foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.
Mattione earned a bachelor’s degree in systems science and mathematics from WUSTL and a master’s of science, a master’s of arts and a PhD in economics from Harvard University.
Over the years, he has authored or co-authored a number of books and papers on international financial issues.
Aside from Mattione’s professional achievements, he serves WUSTL as a member of the Boston Regional Cabinet and the Boston Regional Campaign Committee, and he is a life member of the William Greenleaf Eliot Society.