Stanley L. Lopata dies at 85

Stanley L. Lopata, trustee emeritus and a deeply revered member of the Washington University community, died of complications from cancer Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2000, at Barnes Hospital. He was 85.

A 1935 chemistry graduate in Arts & Sciences, Lopata was elected to the Board of Trustees in 1979. He and his wife, Lucy Mayer Lopata, had been tireless workers for the University for more than 20 years. On the board, he served on numerous committees, including the Executive Committee and the Buildings and Grounds Committee. He was a member of the national councils of both the School of Engineering and Applied Science and the School of Medicine.

Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton expressed deep sorrow at Lopata's death and heartfelt gratitude for the couple's faithful support for the University.

Click to see entire article

Students take 'show' on road

Thirty-four students at the John M. Olin School of Business visited New York City during semester break in a "road show" playing to investment bankers on Wall Street. Excitement ran high, and the potential payoff is high as well.

The students -- 26 first-year MBA students and eight juniors -- met with recruiters from top investment banking firms, hoping to impress them favorably and spark an interview and ultimately an offer for a summer internship. They visited seven firms -- Bear Stearns, Credit Suisse First Boston, Deutsche Banc-Alex.Brown, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, and Salomon Smith Barney -- comprising what's known as the "bulge bracket" of investment banking firms.

Because some of these firms have considered the business school here too small to merit an on-campus recruiting visit, students and staff decided to go to the recruiters. "It's part of our proactive marketing approach," said Gregory Hutchings, associate dean and director of the business school's Weston Career Resources Center. "We're not waiting for firms to come to us." Hutchings, a managing director in investment banking at A.G. Edwards & Sons before coming to the University, has been building relationships with investment banking firms and many others since he arrived last May.

Larry Herman, MBA candidate '01, who spearheaded the trip, said, "We decided we'd take the first step, and it was a great way to build connections with prospective employers and build brand equity for Olin."

Click to see entire article

Program aims to foster campus diversity

The Distinguished Minority Scholars Program, an initiative launched last year to support future recruitment of minority faculty, continues to bring acclaimed academics to the Washington University campus.

The latest is Craig Howe, Ph.D., deputy assistant director for cultural resources at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) and a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, who visits here this week, Thursday, Jan. 27, to Tuesday, Feb.1, sponsored by the Department of Anthropology and the American Culture Studies Program, both in Arts & Sciences.

Click to see entire article

Three medical students killed in highway accident Jan. 17

About 450 friends and associates packed the Eric P. Newman Education Center auditorium Friday afternoon, Jan. 22, to reflect on the lives of three first-year medical students killed in a Jan. 17 traffic accident.

Those remembered were Adam El-Khishin, 20, of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia; Candice Lin, 22, Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.; and Danny Lee, 21, Culver City, Calif.

El-Khishin, Lin and Lee were returning from a weekend trip to Chicago with two other first-year medical students, Stanley Chan, 23, of Salisbury, Md., and David Kawamura, 23, of Portage, Mich., when the accident occurred near Bloomington, Ill.

Click to see entire article

Thach brothers share zest for exploration - and a comic streak

As children, the Thach brothers often spent Sunday afternoons with their father searching for buried gold left by pirates. He convinced them that Blackbeard, reputedly one of their ancestors, had hidden Spanish doubloons and pieces of eight on the Oklahoma prairie.

"We would pack provisions and go through the motions of outfitting for a voyage," said Tom Thach, the eldest of the three brothers. "These adventures put a lot of magic in our lives."

Click to see entire article