David W. Detjen, J.D., a partner in the New York office of Alston & Bird LLP and co-chair of the law firm’s New York international group, was named a member of the University’s Board of Trustees at its Dec. 3 meeting.
The announcement was made by Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton.
At the meeting, trustees heard a presentation on career planning and placement by James E. McLeod, vice chancellor for students and dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, and John A. Berg, associate vice chancellor for undergraduate admissions. Their report dealt with the importance of career planning to students and their families, as well as strategies and programs being implemented to continue to provide strong service to students during their college years.
A report on the University’s self-study for the just-completed North Central Association accreditation visit was presented by Gerhild Scholz Williams, Ph.D., associate vice chancellor for academic affairs, chair of the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, and the Barbara Schaps Thomas and David M. Thomas Professor in the Humanities; and by James W. Davis, Ph.D., professor of political science. Williams and Davis co-chaired the coordination of the accreditation visit and the preparation of the detailed self-study.
In his report to the trustees, Wrighton noted several significant accomplishments during the past few months, including the selection of Aaron Ciechanover, M.D., D.Sc., to receive the 2004 Nobel Prize in chemistry. Ciechanover, the Research Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, has been a visiting professor of pediatrics in the WUSTL School of Medicine since 1987.
Wrighton reported that applications for the fall 2005 freshman class are strong and currently are ahead of last year, as are applications for early decision students. Campus visits by high-school seniors are up, a good sign of continuing interest in the University.
Noted were the recent installations of four faculty members to endowed professorships created during the just-completed Campaign for Washington University. Altogether, 165 professorships were established during the campaign.
Wrighton briefed the trustees on the appointment of Joel Seligman, J.D., dean of the School of Law and the Ethan A.H. Shepley University Professor, as president of the University of Rochester; and on the search for a successor to Olin School of Business Dean Stuart I. Greenbaum, Ph.D., also the Bank of America Professor of Managerial Leadership.
Wrighton gave the trustees an update on discussions regarding the establishment of the Richard A. Gephardt Institute of Public Affairs, which will continue to enhance the University’s outreach into the community through public service by students and other members of the University community.
The trustees received standing committee reports on buildings and grounds/real estate, development, educational policy, Hilltop finance, research-graduate affairs, undergraduate life, audit, medical finance, university finance, and the Alumni Board of Governors.
About David W. Detjen
Detjen, in addition to his role with Alston & Bird, is executive editor of the International Law Practicum, a publication of the New York State Bar Association, and several books ranging from how to arrange joint ventures with international partners to The Germans in Missouri, 1900-1918: Prohibition, Neutrality, and Assimilation, published in 1985.
Detjen is a member of the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York and the German American Law Association.
A 1970 graduate of Arts & Sciences at WUSTL, Detjen earned a degree from the University’s School of Law in 1973. He serves as a member of that school’s national council, and in 1998 he received the school’s distinguished alumni award.
While a law student, he was editor in chief of the Washington University Law Quarterly and was elected to the Order of the Coif. He also studied law and history at the Eberhard-Karls-Universitat in Tubingen, Germany.
Alston & Bird has more than 700 attorneys in five major markets, representing companies such as UPS, Verizon Wireless, Bertelsmann AG, Wachovia Corp., BellSouth Corp., Delta Airlines Inc., AFLAC and The Prudential Insurance Co. of America.