First Person

A first-person account from NASA Flight Director Fiona Turett, BSME ’09, on how she approaches her work leading teams of flight controllers, engineers and professionals on missions like Artemis I.

What started as a chance to try something new with her mom led Tiffany Yao, BFA ’19, into another competition that was far less conventional. Here, in her own words, is how she became a beauty queen.

Arsalan Iftikhar, AB ’99, JD ’03, has spent his career speaking out against Islamophobia. In his new book, “Fear of a Muslim Planet,” he writes that the need to stand against hate is more urgent than ever.

Peter Vogel is the founder of Leafwire, a growing online network that is connecting folks in the cannabis industry.

Sam Goodwin traveled to all 193 United Nations sovereign countries from 2010 to 2019, but when he was detained at a Syrian checkpoint and put in prison, he had to dig deep within himself to keep going.

During the pandemic, Leana Wen had to sort through the confusion when politicians and pundits contradicted health experts.

De Nichols has been working at the intersection of art and social justice since she was a student at Washington University. Now, after completing her Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University, she’s working on her first book and helping St. Louis’ Griot Museum of Black History.

Alum Joey Clarke Jr won the international screenwriting competition The Academy Nicholl Fellowship, which is presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (the same group that awards Oscars). Here he shares his tips for screenwriting.

Pamela Meyer, BA ’80, is founder and CEO of Calibrate, a corporate training company that specializes in deception detection. She is author of the 2010 book Liespotting: Proven Techniques to Detect Deception, and her 2011 Ted Talk, “How to Spot a Liar,” has more than 22 million views. Here she talks about deciphering deception.