Guggenheim film chronicles life at Washington University in early 1950s

In what is believed to be one of the earliest public works by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Charles Guggenheim, Washington University in St. Louis has unearthed and digitized a slice of academia in the early 1950s called The Second Century. Written and produced by Guggenheim as part of the school’s first major fundraising effort, the 30-minute film — filled with 1950s earnestness — chronicles the attributes of not only Washington University, but also the merits of a university education.

Obituary: Barry Commoner, ‘founder of modern ecology’ and former WUSTL biologist, 95

Barry Commoner, a biologist at WUSTL from 1947-1981, died Sept. 30, 2012, in Manhattan. He was 95. Commoner was a professor of plant physiology and of environmental studies, both in Arts & Sciences. According to The New York Times, Commoner was “a founder of modern ecology and one of its most provocative thinkers and mobilizers in making environmentalism a people’s political cause.”