University selected to host presidential debate Oct. 17

Excitement is sweeping the campus and the city of St. Louis as Washington University gears up to host the last of three presidential debates in fall 2000 at 8 p.m. Oct. 17.

The selection marks the first time in history a university has been chosen by the Commission on Presidential Debates for three consecutive campaigns. The University hosted the first presidential debate before the 1992 election and was selected to host a 1996 presidential debate that was cancelled when candidates negotiated a reduction in the number of debates.

"I am delighted that Washington University has been chosen as the site for a presidential debate," said Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. "The 1992 presidential debate was an extraordinary experience for Washington University and an educational opportunity for all of our students."

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Ben Cannon, '99, is Rhodes Scholar

This was not your standard Trivial Pursuit game. No walloping Aunt Edna on the sports and entertainment questions and then eking out a couple of lucky history guesses.

As Ben Cannon sat in a Macalester College lounge in Minnesota last month, he was surrounded by a group of razor-sharp competitors, each with eyes on an infinitely loftier prize: a coveted Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford in England.

The hours-long board game -- merely a way of killing time and cutting tension as the Rhodes judges pared and then shared their final decision -- did have a decided edge, though.

"It was a very competitive game," recalled Cannon with a laugh. As he and his partner built an insurmountable lead, the May 1999 Washington University graduate said he was thinking, "I'm not going to win this scholarship, but I am going to be able to go back home and tell people I beat a Rhodes Scholar in Trivial Pursuit!"

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Bowen named to new chair

John R. Bowen, Ph.D., professor of anthropology and director of the program in Social Thought and Analysis, has been named the Dunbar-Van Cleve Professor in Arts & Sciences. A formal installation ceremony will be held in the spring.

"John Bowen's creative contributions to the life of Washington University as a teacher, researcher and all-round University citizen make him an ideal recipient of such a distinguished professorship," said Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. "He is the perfect person for a chair made possible through the support and generosity of two of the University's most well-respected alumni."

Said Edward S. Macias, executive vice chancellor and dean of Arts & Sciences: "Professor Bowen exemplifies the qualities that we look for in our Arts & Sciences faculty. He has brought energy and vision to our program in Social Thought and Analysis, the Department of Anthropology and his teaching, and he is a distinguished scholar in his field. As chair of the Commission on the Undergraduate Curriculum, he has led the most important curriculum change in Arts & Sciences in two decades. I look forward to many more years of great work from him."

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Lung transplant is 500th performed in program here

While everyone else was gearing up for the new millennium, Mary Pennington was catching her breath. Pennington, 61, of Odin, Ill., underwent a bilateral lung transplant -- the hospital's 500th lung transplant -- Dec. 7 at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

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