A Transformative Decade: Convergence, Creativity, Community, Year 1 Progress Report

A Transformative Decade: Convergence, Creativity, Community

In December 2021, Dean Feng Sheng Hu announced a strategic vision for elevating Arts & Sciences over the next 10 years. Arising from scores of conversations, hundreds of voices, and ideas from across the university, A Transformative Decade: — presents a roadmap for advancing our scholarship, educational opportunities, and impact

As we look toward 2030, we envision a transformed school that will rise in prominence to serve as a global model for a school of arts and sciences. We will lead innovative developments, advance foundational knowledge and convergent breakthroughs, create solutions for pressing global challenges, and educate a new generation of leaders to shape the future.

In short, the decade of Arts & Sciences

A record-breaking year for research

Our scholars reached new funding heights in fiscal year 2023, bringing in more grant money than ever before — over $55 million . Support from a wide variety of government agencies, private foundations, corporate partnerships, and other sponsors fueled a year of unprecedented discovery across disciplines.

Faculty Achievements

• Carl Phillips wins Pulitzer Prize in Poetry

• Ursula W. Goodenough and William B. McKinnon elected to the National Academy of Sciences

• Jean Allman and Tristram R. Kidder elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

• WashU installs seven Arts & Sciences faculty as distinguished professors

• Barbara A. Schaal elected member of the American Philosophical Society

• Adia Harvey Wingfield elected president of the American Sociological Association

• Denise Head and Lori Markson named Association for Psychological Science fellows

• Kia Lilly Caldwell elected president of the Association for the Study of the Worldwide African Diaspora

• David Lawton receives lifetime achievement award from the British Academy

• Edward McPherson wins Guggenheim Fellowship

• Erik Henriksen and Kater Murch selected as 2022 Moore Experimental Physics Investigators

• Ray Arvidson wins Outstanding Public Leadership Medal from NASA

• The National Science Foundation invests $3 million in Arts & Sciences-led training program to boost regional quantum workforce

• Rachel Penczykowski and Sheng Ran win NSF CAREER awards . They join 12 current CAREER award recipients

• Deanna Barch wins Gold Medal Award from the Society of Biological Psychiatry

• Ian Dobbins named Society of Experimental Psychologists fellow

ACADEMIC DISTINCTION

Launching a new department of Statistics and Data Science

With the launch of the new Department of Statistics and Data Science, Arts & Sciences aims to work with other WashU schools to position the university as a powerhouse of big data. The department — chaired by Xuming He, a renowned leader in the fields — will provide a foundation for ambitious and innovative digital transformation and spur advanced research that confronts pressing societal challenges.

Hiring exceptional new faculty

An unprecedented year of recruitment resulted in an impressive roster of 31 new faculty members joining Arts & Sciences in 2022, including a cluster hire in quantum science that will supercharge research in multiple WashU schools. A total of 19 scholars have joined Arts & Sciences as part of the Digital Transformation Initiative since its launch.

Achieving operational excellence

Arts & Sciences leadership made significant administrative changes to enhance research and scholarship. The new Grants Administration Integrated Network (GAIN) strengthened connections among grant administrators and increased support for Arts & Sciences researchers, leading to a record-breaking year of external funding. A reorganization of the College of Arts & Sciences has strengthened operations and enabled strategic initiatives in undergraduate academic affairs.

Fueling convergent breakthroughs with strategic funding

Three signature initiatives launched seed funding programs to support transdisciplinary scholarship:

The Center for the Literary Arts named its first Creative Practice Workshop Fellows. Flora Cassen and Ji-Eun Lee will spend fall 2023 pursuing interdisciplinary creative work in residence at CLA; Edward McPherson received a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship.

The Incubator for Transdisciplinary Futures funded nine multiyear clusters and five programmatic grants, sparking faculty collaborations that will explore novel research ideas and encourage unprecedented student learning opportunities.

The Transdisciplinary Institute in Applied Data Sciences awarded its inaugural seed grants to 10 transdisciplinary teams of WashU faculty. Each project will tackle society’s biggest problems with big data. TRIADS will support these teams with additional resources such as software and research development.

Helping scholars tell their stories

The Program in Public Scholarship forged a partnership with The Conversation, an online news outlet, to promote the research and expertise of Arts & Sciences faculty. Theresa Gildner published the first article to come from this partnership — a look at the health impacts of outdated sewer systems in lower-income communities.

UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION

Creating pathways for undergraduate research

To further research opportunities for all undergraduate students, the Office of Undergraduate Research hired two full-time staff members and named its first-ever faculty director: Lori Markson, professor of psychological and brain sciences. The new team will connect students with research opportunities, providing valuable, handson experiences in their fields of studies.

Bolstering undergraduate education

Literacies for Life and Career identified 14 provisional literacies that will serve as cornerstones of undergraduate education. Two dozen Arts & Sciences faculty members volunteered to be early adopters, piloting the implementation of the literacies in their courses beginning in fall 2023.

A committee of 18 faculty members from Arts & Sciences, the Brown School, the School of Medicine, and the Institute for Public Health are developing WashU’s new public health major. The program will educate undergraduate students in transdisciplinary scholarship devoted to improving the health of people and communities.

Preparing for new, state-of-theart facilities

By summer 2024, Arts & Sciences plans to have nine cutting-edge biology teaching labs in Jolley Hall. The university is also constructing a new state-of-the-art building for Arts & Sciences. The 120,000-square-foot building will be located west of Olin Library and north of Graham Chapel. New York-based architectural firm Weiss/Manfredi will lead the design.

GRADUATE EDUCATION

Building a community of distinguished graduate fellows

The Dean’s Distinguished Graduate Fellowships in Arts & Sciences will support outstanding incoming PhD and MFA students. The program, launched in 2022, aims to help academic departments make compelling offers of admission to their best applicants.

Recognizing outstanding graduate research

Benjamin Noble, a fifth-year graduate student in political science, won the inaugural Dean’s Award for Graduate Research Excellence. The award honors outstanding achievements by graduate students in research and creative practice. Noble’s research on the American presidency also won an American Political Science Association award for the best graduate student paper in his subfield.

Leadership

Executive Sponsor

Feng Sheng Hu

Implementation Co-Chairs

Deanna Barch

Ebba Segerberg

Project Management Team

Sara Carron

Lynda Duke

Jeremy Goldmeier

Julie Rivinus

Jennifer Vines

Pillar Champions

Douglas Flowe

George-Levi Gayle

Erik Herzog

Rebecca Lester

Shanti Parikh

Michael E. Wysession

Foundation Team Members

Na’Nette Ashford

Megan Daschbach

Matthew Gabel

Marcia Holleran

Calvin Lai

Tabea Alexa Linhard

Zhao Ma

Lori Markson

Beth Martin

Sarah Murphy

Younasse Tarbouni

Signature Initiative Directors

Center for the Literary Arts

Danielle Dutton, Ignacio Infante

Center for Quantum Leaps

Kater Murch, David W. Piston

Incubator for Transdisciplinary Futures

William Acree, Betsy Sinclair

Literacies for Life and Career

Brian Carpenter, Erin McGlothlin

Living Earth Collaborative 2.0

Jonathan Losos, Crickette Sanz

Program in Public Scholarship

Ian Bogost, Adia Harvey Wingfield

TRIADS

Tammy English, Jacob Montgomery

Learn more about our progress.

artsci.wustl.edu/decade

Undergraduate Global Health

Tristram R. Kidder

We are changing the intellectual landscape of the entire university in profound ways.

- Feng Sheng Hu, Richard G. Engelsmann Dean of Arts & Sciences