Family on the 40: Wysessions move onto campus

By David Moessner

Okay, we know they're smart. Michael E. Wysession, bred at Brown and Northwestern universities, is associate professor of earth and planetary sciences in Arts and Sciences. His wife, Joan, matriculated at Northwestern and takes graduate courses at Washington University.

And we know they're brave. How else do you explain the co-existence of both a three-year-old son and a snow-white couch in the family room?

So which attribute -- intelligence or courage -- was more tested last winter when James E. McLeod, vice chancellor for students and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, called with one of those are-you-talking-to-me offers?

"Michael said, 'You're not going to believe the phone call I just got from Jim McLeod,'" said Joan, recalling the conversation. "'How would you like to live in the Clayton school district, with a free mortgage and meals -- and just one condition?' And I said, 'Well, talk to me about it.' And Michael said, 'We'd get to live with 200 freshmen. ... '"

Click to see entire article

When social policy experts set out to solve the ills of inner-city neighborhoods, they sometimes forget that a highly dedicated corps of community workers and social service providers already are hard at work in most neighborhoods. Often underpaid and seldom provided with adequate resources, these front-line workers usually find some way nonetheless to make an important difference in their communities.

Recognizing that these practitioners already possess the compassion, drive and street smarts so critical to effective community development, the George Warren Brown School of Social Work is launching an innovative, multi-university, public-private partnership to help these workers get the advanced training and education necessary to advance their careers and become true leaders in the urban communities of St. Louis.

Click to see entire article

The incoming freshman class is an exceptional group. The 1,495 students in the Class of 2002 constitute the largest class in the University's history.

For their young years, the new students have amassed some impressive statistics. And not surprisingly so: They were culled from a record 16,200 applicants.

Click to see entire article

Fossett provides students rare learning experience

His partners in the venture, scientists and students from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in Arts and Sciences, continue to pore through data returned to Earth from Fossett's Solo Spirit, taking advantage of the unique educational opportunity created by the venture.

Fossett navigated 63 percent of the globe longitudinally and eclipsed his own prior distance record of 10,360.61 miles, set in January 1997. He was aloft a total of eight days, 13 hours, 58 minutes.

Click to see entire article