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Two Washington University in St. Louis faculty members are being honored by the Academy of Science – St. Louis for their contributions to science: Peng Bai, an associate professor of energy, environmental and chemical engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering, and Ram Dixit, a professor and chair of biology in Arts & Sciences. The awards will be presented at the Outstanding St. Louis Scientists Awards Ceremony April 3 at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Michael Mazzeo, dean and the Knight Family Professor at Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis, recently announced the launch of a new health initiative — part of the school’s five-year strategic plan — that envisions Olin as the premier institution for the business of health and an engine for innovation at WashU. The health initiative promises to address multifaceted challenges in the health industry by forging collaboration with innovators throughout WashU and the region.

A partnership between WashU Continuing & Professional Studies (CAPS) and T-REX, a regional non-profit innovation hub, is opening doors for students eager to explore careers in the dynamic geospatial industry. In late January, prospective students interested in CAPS’ Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Certificate program gathered at T-REX to discover how GIS is transforming St. Louis’ workforce and to gain insight into potential career pathways.

One day, while sitting in his “Social Inequality in America” class, St. Louis Fellow Brodhi Ramirez ‘27 listened to a teaching assistant discuss the role that the legal and social justice organization, ArchCity Defenders, played in the Ferguson Uprising. “I got chills for a minute, and that same day, I sent Jacki [Langum, Deputy Director of ArchCity] an email,” Ramirez said. Needless to say, he got the job. Ramirez spent the summer at ArchCity as a St. Louis Fellow, supporting their mission of providing pro bono legal and social services support to St. Louisans. 

Mac Barnes ’26, a 2024 Transform Grant recipient of the Gephardt Institute’s St. Louis Impact Fund, unveiled his exhibit, “Quilts as Civic Engagement: An Interactive History of St. Louis and the Delmar Region,” on Wednesday, Dec. 18. Coinciding with the grand opening of WashU’s Community Engagement Office, located in Delmar DivINe at 5501 Delmar Blvd. in St. Louis’ Central West End, hundreds of visitors viewed and praised Barnes’ quilt, posed for photos and asked the WashU junior about his inspiration and process.  

WashU’s School of Continuing & Professional Studies (CAPS) is launching a new program that prepares adult learners for high-demand jobs in medical and research laboratories. The program will create career pathways for workers and meet the needs of local businesses.

WashU’s direct and indirect impact to the St. Louis economy in 2024 totaled $9.3 billion, an increase of $500 million from 2023. During fiscal year 2024, which concluded June 30, WashU spent $3.9 billion on salaries, construction and purchasing. That money rippled across the region, generating another $5.4 billion in economic activity. Chancellor Andrew D. Martin said WashU’s growing economic impact represents both its success as a global leader in education, research and innovation and its commitment to the region as an employer, health care provider and community resource.  

Jessie Minton, vice chancellor for technology and chief information officer (CIO) at WashU, received the 2024 St. Louis ORBIE Award in the large enterprise category from St. LouisCIO Dec. 5. The award honors CIOs in the St. Louis region who have demonstrated excellence in technology leadership.

As the 2025 legislative session kicks off, the Office of Government & Community Relations at Washington University in St. Louis has launched an advocacy program as well as an online map demonstrating WashU’s impact across the state.

Flint Fowler, a strong champion for St. Louis’ young people and a WashU alumnus, will receive the annual Rosa L. Parks Award at the 38th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration at 2 p.m. Monday, Jan. 20, in Graham Chapel at Washington University in St. Louis. Fowler retired in December from Boys & Girls Clubs of St. Louis, where he served as executive director for 28 years. During his tenure, he helped the organization grow from a single location to 11 sites in the region offering about 14,000 young people programs in leadership, academic success, career readiness, the arts and sports. 

The Washington University Make-a-Thon is an event in its second year in which WashU students design and produce a prototype of a functional tech device for people with disabilities. People from different fields work together to create a product for a person with a disability, said Marit Watson, an occupational therapy professor at the university.

Washington University is known far and wide as a top notch place to go to college. But here in our hometown, you call us WashU, and you know us not just as a great school, but as the place to go when you need answers to complicated medical questions – like you did about 2.5 million times in 2024 – or when you’re looking for a meaningful job with great benefits – like 22,000 of your neighbors have done.

Flint Fowler, a Washington University alumnus, received the annual Rosa L. Parks Award at the 38th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration on Monday, Jan. 20.

BJC Health System and Washington University have each donated $5 million to the Brickline Greenway project, the 10-mile biking and walking trail system that officials hope to extend across the city over the next few years. Great Rivers Greenway, which is overseeing the project, said the contributions have pushed the $245 million public-private partnership past the halfway-funded mark.

Public health education in St. Louis is on the brink of transformative growth. The Washington University School of Public Health, slated to open in 2026, will mark the university’s first new school in a century and signal a major shift in how public health research and community engagement will be organized on campus.

St. Louis has been home to a branch of the NAACP for more than a century. While the organization has had a presence on many university campuses, it’s launching it’s first chapter at Washington University in St. Louis this year.

Washington University in St. Louis is preparing to launch its first new school in a century: the school of public health. Dr. Sandro Galea, the dean of the school of public health, says public health is many things from pandemics, infectious disease, to chronic disease and mental health. “What distinguishes public health is that we think about how we can structure the world to keep us healthy for as long as possible to prevent disease,” said Galea on ‘Total Information A.M.’

Brickline Greenway is kicking off 2025 with three huge wins! Great Rivers Greenway (GRG), the public agency connecting the region with greenways who turns 25 this year, has received a major boost to support the project’s vision to connect 14 neighborhoods with 12+ miles of greenways. Significant investments from both BJC Health System (BJC) and Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) push the $245 million public-private partnership past the halfway-funded mark, as well as provide critical match for future federal funding applications. Greater St. Louis, Inc. (GSL) stepped up its commitment by forming a working group of CEOs to support capital campaign efforts, further ensuring success for the project in 2025.

At Washington University’s Olin School, Izzy Gorton and Chiara Munzi are disrupting the quick breakfast market – and have raised $234,000 to take their startup national. Gorton and Munzi leveraged the school’s Skandalaris Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship to guide the launch of their venture, ChiChi. Even more, adds Gorton, they took advantage of their startup-friendly local ecosystem in St. Louis.

Precious Barry, a WashU undergrad, has partnered with the St. Louis County chapter of the NAACP to help charter a student chapter at the university that will launch this January. The chapter is housed under WashU’s African and African American Studies Department. Its goals are to register to vote as many students as possible, create civically minded leaders and work to promote diversity, equity and inclusion on campus.

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.

It’s the result of concerted efforts to attract immigrants here by organizations including Greater St. Louis Inc., the International Institute of St. Louis and the St. Louis Mosaic Project. By raising private donations for targeted recruitment, the campaign has attracted Latin American and Cuban immigrants and provided job training and placement with the help of the Missouri AFL-CIO. More than 1,300 Afghan refugees have come for programs including entrepreneurial grants. Mayor Tishaura O. Jones has created a city Office of New Americans to help facilitate immigrant settlement.

Newly released data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that efforts to increase the St. Louis metro’s immigrant population are succeeding, as the 15-county bi-state St. Louis metropolitan area recorded the highest percentage increase in foreign-born population among the 30 largest metro areas in the United States from 2022-2023.