News

Randall Jotte, MD, a professor of emergency medicine at WashU Medicine, is a driving force behind the Hospital to Housing program. The innovative partnership with local organization St. Patrick’s Center and other agencies aims to improve medical outcomes and reduce health-care costs by providing housing support for high-frequency users of the emergency room.

WashU’s Rural Scholars Academy welcomed its third cohort of 36 incoming high school juniors to campus this month for college classes, admissions workshops and field trips to St. Louis attractions. New this year — the opportunity to meet the first graduates of the academy who will attend WashU.

A new webpage, “From Lab to Real Life: The Impact of WashU Research,” is now available for viewing and sharing. The page highlights how Washington University in St. Louis’ research drives meaningful change in society. The platform showcases groundbreaking discoveries and innovations that improve lives — locally, nationally and globally.

Each year, the Data Management & Analytics team quantifies the university’s economic effects in the St. Louis region by collecting, combining, and analyzing data from several sources. Our work—in collaboration with the WashU Office of Government & Community Relations and other partners across the university—provides a comprehensive, data-driven view of WashU’s impact, published annually in the Community and Economic Benefit report. The most recent edition of the report highlights WashU’s growing role as a regional economic engine. 

WashU founders Fortuna Kadima (EN ’26) and Ethan Ng (EN ’27) are building the digital backbone of future-ready school districts with their startup Connect. The startup is actively partnering with schools across St. Louis, including Jennings, Maplewood Richmond Heights, Parkway (Spark), Ritenour, and WashU to pilot tools that enhance safety and strengthen student-teacher relationships, making schools more human-centered and better organized.

This summer, Civic Scholar Margo Ogrosky ‘26 is making waves by providing mental health rehabilitation through art seminars and young adult programming at the Independence Center. The Independence Center uses the “Clubhouse Model,” a psychosocial rehabilitation program for adults living with severe and persistent mental illness in the St. Louis region. Rather than operating from a clinical perspective, the Independence Center emphasizes community, connection, and empowerment as integral to healing.  

This summer, St. Louis Fellow Dalen Ainsworth ‘27 is applying his technical skills in service of community transformation. As an intern at the Cabanne District Community Development Corporation (CDC), Ainsworth supports neighborhood revitalization through solar energy, digital infrastructure and disaster relief efforts. The work at the Cabanne District CDC focuses on addressing energy needs within the district, through innovative and renewable methods. It also has a major focus to prepare the next generation of leaders, by providing educational opportunities for the youth.  

On Wednesday, June 11, three St. Louis Fellows in the Goldman Fellows cohort — Jerry Liao ‘26, Jayden Urioste ‘27, and Briannah Anderson ‘26 — joined a community-wide volunteer day in O’Fallon Park to clean up debris following the May 16 tornado and to build new walking trails. The volunteer day was led by St. Louis City Forestry, where Liao and Urioste are both interning this summer as part of the St. Louis Fellows Program, in collaboration with other local non-profits such as The Sierra Club, Open Space STL, and the Ozark Trail Association. 

In June, St. Louis Fellows and Gephardt Institute staff contributed hands-on support to tornado recovery efforts in North St. Louis as part of an Engage St. Louis Day. Despite the summer heat, 35 St. Louis Fellows and six Gephardt staff members rose early on Saturday, June 21 to join Black Power Blueprint and lend their labor to recovery efforts that are still underway over a month after a devastating May 16 tornado that ripped through the city. 

A group of WashU Philanthropy Lab student “Ambassadors” traveled to Texas last month to pitch for funding for St. Louis organizations — one of whom landed $50,000 for LifeWise STL. Luc Neacy ‘27, pitched on behalf of LifeWise STL, which helps families and people of all ages achieve economic well-being through high-impact, relationship-based programming and addressing systemic barriers. The additional funds bring the total Philanthropy Lab grants from the spring 2025 course to $60,000 for LifeWise STL — and to $120,900 across 22 community nonprofits in the St. Louis region.  

Washington University and a leading biotech research company say they have united to further scientific research and innovation in St. Louis. Leaders of WashU and MilliporeSigma, the life sciences business of German science and technology company Merck KGaA, have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to “advance scientific collaboration,” according to a Thursday news release.

Fiancee founders and WashU grads Matthew Bitner-Glindzicz and Danielle Wilder have developed a product to help save lives. It’s called Nalox-1, and their company, nCase Tech, is all in on St. Louis.

Getting more rural kids to college has seen a big push here in St. Louis and at Washington University. WashU has pledged to ramp up its outreach to rural students.

Ronné Turner, vice provost for undergraduate enrollment and student financial aid at Washington University in St. Louis, recently sat down for an interview with Inside Higher Ed. Ronné discussed the university’s WashU Pledge program, which offers eligible students from Missouri and southern Illinois a full scholarship. “It is our hope that no talented student, regardless of their family background, sees finances as a barrier to entry at WashU,” Turner said in the interview.

Founders looking to innovate in the health sector are finding that St. Louis’ medical and academic prowess makes it a great place to grow their companies, with experts at local institutions including WashU who are generous with their time and willing to share their knowledge. 

It’s been over a century since the city of St. Louis hosted some of the world’s best athletes for the Summer Olympic Games. On June 20, those fields used over 100 years ago played host to the next generation. Hundreds of kids from our area took a lap around the historic track at Francis Olympic Field at Washington University.

A few months ago, The Jewish Light shared stories of some of the bright lights in the St. Louis arts community. Now, it has published a deeper spotlight on three artists whose brilliance illuminates not just St. Louis, but the international art world.

The St. Louis Business Journal has been honoring and celebrating women business leaders for more than 25 years through its Most Influential Business Women Awards program. With the help of past winners, the Business Journal reviewed 160 nominations to select the 2025 class of Most Influential Business Women. These 25 women are making an impact not only at the companies they work for and run, but at local nonprofits and organizations in the communities they serve. Several WashU staff and alums are being honored this year.

Oladipupo Fadeyi, who will attend Washington University in the fall after graduating from Hazelwood East, was a student speaker during the Wash U College Prep Program (CPP) graduation ceremony in Emerson Auditorium on May 4. CPP prepares talented first-generation, limited-income high school students from the St. Louis region to succeed in college. 

As St. Louis shifts from tornado response to recovery, many residents face complex legal questions about housing, contractors, and insurance. To meet them where they are, attorneys and WashU law students are providing free, on-site legal help.

The nearly 11,000-seat Muny in St. Louis is receiving the regional theater Tony Award. This week it began preparing to open its 107th season with “Bring It On.”

The Muny, the century-old theater in Forest Park, is the winner of the 2025 Regional Theatre Tony Award for excellence in regional theater and “contributing to the growth of theater nationally.”

As Forest Park Forever raises $85 million in donations to make the Steinberg Skating Rink a year-round attraction – along with the 22 acres around it referred to as “the Glade” – the park’s leadership also has a list of “next-up big ticket items” over five years.

St. Louis is a forgotten place in a way. In fact, it has long been on lists of the most underrated cities in America. Back in 2016, Thrillist called St. Louis the “most overlooked city in America.” Perhaps the low-profile is due to the humility of its mid-west residents, who are easily approachable and nice, even when you’re wearing the wrong jersey at Busch Stadium. Or maybe it’s because of the city’s location, far from the coasts. No matter, the secrets of St. Louis, like they always have, await those who pass through.

The Pulitzer Arts Foundation’s Cara Starke shares must-see art experiences in St. Louis, from museums to monuments and beyond.

Across the metro area, transplants can quickly make an impact, both in the community and in their own careers.

The Washington Post recently named the Saint Louis Art Museum (SLAM) as one of the top art museums in the nation. The Post’s art critics ranked SLAM as #12, citing its geography in the “huge, gorgeous” Forest Park and calling its art collection “broad and deep.”

Joi Riley is one of three female business owners selling products in Park Central Development’s Eric Outlaw Business Center at 4256 Manchester Ave. The Grove neighborhood’s business incubator, which opened Oct. 10, helps women in the St. Louis region develop their businesses online and in store.

The employment gain by the St. Louis metro area that ranked as the fourth highest percentage increase in the nation is an indicator of progress, but it must be sustained for the rest of this decade to charge the region’s narrative, some officials say. Federal data released Oct. 4 showed that the number of non-farm employees in the St. Louis region grew 2.6% from August 2023 to August 2024. That’s an addition of 36,600 employees, from 1,422,200 a year ago to 1,458,800 in August, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics report. Only the metro areas of Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and Indianapolis showed larger percentage increases.

The number of employees in the St. Louis region grew 2.57% from August 2023 to August 2024, the fourth-highest percentage increase in the nation, according to federal data released Friday. The St. Louis metro area in the time added 36,600 employees, growing from 1,422,2000 a year ago to 1,458,800 in August, according to federal Bureau of Labor Statistics report. Only three U.S. metro areas posted larger percentage employment increases: Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and Indianapolis.