At its May 2 meeting, the University’s Board of Trustees elected three new members — Maxine Clark, chief executive of Build-A-Bear Workshops; William B. Neaves, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, Mo.; and John D. Weil, president of the Clayton Management Co.
Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton made the announcement.
Re-elected as trustee officers for 2003-04 were Chairman John F. McDonnell, retired chairman of the board of McDonnell Douglas Corp.; Vice Chairman William H. Danforth, University chancellor emeritus; and Vice Chairman David W. Kemper, chairman, president and CEO of Commerce Bancshares Inc.
Re-elected to regular terms on the board were John P. Dubinsky, president and CEO of West-moreland Associates LLC; David C. Farrell, former chairman and CEO of the May Department Stores Co.; Richard F. Ford, managing general partner of Gateway Associates LP; Eugene S. Kahn, chairman of the board and CEO of the May Department Stores Co.; and Michael M. Sears, office of the chairman, chief financial officer and senior vice president of The Boeing Co.
The board also elected four former trustees to new terms: Robin E. Hernreich, investor from Vail, Colo.; Louis G. Hutt Jr., managing member of Bennett, Hutt & Co. LLC; Barbara Schaps Thomas, senior vice president and chief financial officer of HBO Sports/PPV; and Ann Rubenstein Tisch, founder of the Young Women’s Leadership School of East Harlem, N.Y.
Andrew B. Craig III, managing director of RiverVest Venture Partners and retired chairman of the board of NationsBank Corp., was elected as an emeritus trustee.
Gordon W. Philpott, M.D., the newly elected chair of the Alumni Board of Governors, will serve his second year as an alumni representative to the Board of Trustees. He is professor emeritus of surgery in the School of Medicine.
The board named student representatives for 2003-04. Announced as undergraduate student representatives were Ryan Lawson, School of Art Class of 2004, and Elizabeth “SiSi” Martí, Arts & Sciences Class of 2004. Named graduate student representatives were Xiu Xia Du, D.Sc. candidate in systems science and mathematics in engineering, Class of 2004; and David E. Taylor, D.Sc. candidate in electrical engineering, Class of 2004.
Among his comments to the trustees, Wrighton noted that the Office of Undergraduate Admissions has received more than 20,000 applications, with acceptances continuing to come in at an excellent rate. He also noted that the quality of the freshman class is expected to be perhaps the finest in the University’s history.
The chancellor reported on the University’s response to SARS, including advisories for Commencement, summer classes, and planning that will respond to any contingencies that may still exist for the fall semester.
In addition, he reviewed the faculty achievement awards, of which professors Lee Epstein and Eugene M. Johnson Jr. were announced as winners at the Chancellor’s Gala April 12. Epstein, Ph.D., is the Edward Mallinckrodt Distinguished University Professor of Political Science in Arts & Sciences and professor of law in the School of Law. Johnson, Ph.D., is the Norman J. Stupp Professor of Neurology and professor of molecular biology and pharmacology and co-director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center in the School of Medicine.
Wrighton also noted that MetroLink construction is expected to impact the northern perimeter of the Hilltop Campus for the next two years, beginning May 4 and continuing through 2005.
In closing his remarks, he reviewed the planning for the University’s sesquicentennial celebration that begins during Founders Week, Sept. 14-20.
Presentations to the board were made by William A. Peck, M.D., executive vice chancellor for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, and Philip D. Stahl, Ph.D., the Edward Mallinckrodt Jr. Professor and head of the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology, regarding the plans for a Medical School Learning and Teaching Center.
Immediately following their remarks, Charles Lipton, chair of the Washington University Public Relations Council, gave a report on the University’s image and reputation efforts over the last two decades.
The trustees also heard reports from the following committees: audit, compensation, development, educational policy, honorary degrees, Hilltop finance, medical finance, research-graduate affairs, undergraduate life, and the Alumni Board of Governors.
Reviews of the year were presented by the undergraduate student representatives, the graduate student representatives, and by the faculty representative.
Prior to the meeting, the trustees attended a special presentation on research advances in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, given by David M. Holtzman, M.D., the Charlotte and Paul Hagemann Professor of Neurology in the School of Medicine.
Randy L. Buckner, Ph.D., gave a presentation on the images of memory in aging and disease. Buckner is associate professor of psychology in Arts & Sciences, of radiology and of neurology in the medical school, and an assistant investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.