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Washington University faculty are leaders in their fields and offer expertise on topics ranging from aging to anthropology and from race to religion. The faculty are renowned for their scholarly, creative and research achievements and can add perspective and breadth to breaking news or feature stories.
The university's 2,721 full-time faculty teach in eight schools: architecture, art, arts & sciences, business, engineering, law, medicine, and social work. They engage in research, write definitive books, create works of art and win such major awards as the Nobel Prize, MacArthur Prize Fellowships, National Medals of Science and National Book Critics Circle Awards. Current faculty serve on editorial boards of more than 250 professional and scholarly journals.
Our experts can discuss their areas of expertise in everyday language and many of them have extensive print and electronic media experience. You can call our faculty directly or you can call the University Communications staff for assistance. We are available after business hours and on weekends to help you identify and/or contact the right expert on deadline.
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Ramesh Raghavan
Assistant professor of Social Work
Ramesh Raghavan's clinical, policy and administrative expertise in public health and psychiatry fuel his research interests in mental health services and policies for children in the child welfare system. Prior to joining the faculty at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work and the School of ...
Expertise: public health, mental health services, children in the child welfare system, health policy, Medicaid
Direct contact: 314-935-4469
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raghavan@wustl.edu
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Paul Shattuck
Assistant Professor of Social Work
Paul Shattuck's research and teaching focuses on autism, social policy, research methods, human behavior and the social environment, health and society, and disability studies. He has published a number of articles on the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders. The Journal of Autism and ...
Expertise: autism, social policy, research methods, human behavior and the social environment, health and society, disability studies
Direct contact: (314) 935-7570
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pshattuck@wustl.edu
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Monica Matthieu
Research Assistant Professor
Matthieu's expertise centers on mental health services. She is available to discuss suicide prevention, mental health in the aftermath of disasters, the mental health impact of trauma as well as the mental health of veterans. Her current research focuses on provider and organizational change required ...
Expertise: mental health services, trauma, veterans, suicide prevention and disaster
mental health
Direct contact: 314-935-7516
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mmatthieu@wustl.edu
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Hillel J. Kieval
Chair of history and the Gloria M. Goldstein Professor of Jewish History and Thought in Arts & Sciences
Professor Kieval's work focuses on transformations in Jewish culture and society in East Central Europe (Austria-Hungary, Germany and Poland) from the Enlightenment to the Second World War; more specifically, on the effects of modernization projects, ethnic and national struggles, social conflict, ...
Expertise: Jewish culture in East Central Europe, antisemitism on Jewish life, Jewish-Gentile relations, linguistic, cultural and communal affiliations among Jews, Jewish society in Bohemia, Jewish experience in Czech lands, …
Direct contact: 314-935-5426
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hkieval@wustl.edu
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William H. Gass
Distinguished University Professor Emeritus in the Humanities
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| William H. Gass |
Expertise: Literary criticism, writing, philosophy
Media assistance: (314) 935-5235 / nschoenherr@wustl.edu
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Showing Culture & Living Experts 1 through 5 of 30.
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| News Stories & Tip Sheets: |
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"What We Believe: A History of the George Warren Brown School of Social Work: 1909-2007"
New book looks at nearly 100 years of social work at the University and in St. Louis
April 30,
2008 -- To celebrate nearly 100 years of existence and a new era in social work education, the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis is publishing What We Believe: A History of the George Warren Brown School of Social Work: 1909- 2007. Author Candace O'Connor begins the book with a look at poverty in St. Louis and the early history of social work education locally, and concludes with an overview of more recent accomplishments and a glimpse at the Brown School's future. Threaded throughout the book are milestones and evolutions in social work education as well as first-person accounts from alumni and current and former faculty.
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Elderly driver safety
Experts discuss aging's impact on ability to drive, find other transportation
April 28,
2008 -- Ensuring that the elderly have access to transportation while preventing age-related driving impairments will be the focus of the eighth annual Friedman Conference on Aging, "Are We Licensed for Life? Transportation and Driving Issues in an Aging Society."
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Producing plaques
Researchers close in on origins of main ingredient of Alzheimer's plaques
April 9,
2008 -- The ability of brain cells to take in substances from their surface is essential to the production of a key ingredient in Alzheimer's brain plaques, neuroscientists at the School of Medicine have learned. The researchers used a drug to shut down the intake process, known as endocytosis, in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. The change led to a 70 percent drop in levels of amyloid beta, the protein fragment that clumps together to form Alzheimer's plaques.
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The roots of alcoholism . . . in the genes?
Los Angeles Times
April 30,
2008 -- WUSTL psychiatry professor and lead author Carolyn Sartor comments on a new WUSTL study that says: Young people often begin drinking alcohol because of environmental factors, such as peer pressure. But genes appear to be a significant factor in determining whether drinking progresses to problem drinking and alcoholism.
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The Vatican on Muslims and Jews
U.S. News & World Report online
April 30,
2008 -- Article looks at how Pope Benedict XVI is trying to mend fences within the church, with other churches, and with Muslims and Jews.
WUSTL religious studies professor Frank Flinn comments.
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Negative rhetoric seen beyond campaign trail
Associated Press
and 58 others
April 28,
2008 -- Scorching rhetoric and negative campaigning aren't confined to the long presidential contest. They're spilling over into other segments of public life.
"It's partly this environment where we can't let things slide," said Wayne Fields, director of the American Cultural Studies program at WUSTL.
"There's big bucks to be made. These former leaders are going to protect their positions of expertise so they can keep selling books and keep getting speaking engagements."
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Genetic link to alcoholism in women discovered
XETC-TV FOX 6 News at 6 a.m. (San Diego CA)
and 7 others
April 25,
2008 -- Story on the WUSTL medical school research on the genetic link to alcoholism in women.
Includes video link to the news story.
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Longevity quest moves slowly from lab to life
MSNBC.com
and 2 others
April 23,
2008 -- Human studies plus laboratory work with yeast, worms, flies and rodents are propelling scientists closer to understanding what causes aging, how to delay it -- and how to translate such progress from the lab to real life.
One of the studies mentioned was the first calorie restriction clinical trials conducted by WUSTL and LSU.
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Gut Check: Why Doctors Say Not All Fat Is Created Equal
The Wall Street Journal
and 2 others
April 15,
2008 -- The recent report that having a pot belly in your 40s roughly triples your risk of dementia in later life is just the tip of an ominous iceberg. WUSTL research on liposuction in which found no change in the women's cholesterol levels, triglycerides, insulin sensitivity or other health risks. "If they had lost that much fat by dieting, they would have substantially improved their metabolic profile, but they didn't," says Samuel Klein, director of WUSM's Center for Human Nutrition and the study's principal investigator.
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A Climate 'Policy Wonk' in the Making
NPR Morning Edition
April 14,
2008 -- WUSTL junior Kelley Greenman is featured is today's Morning Edition program on climate change with Richard Harris. Greenman is interested in cliimate change policy issues.
The story included a segment about an advising appointment with career counselor Karen Morton and Kelley.
Includes an audio link to the story.
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Mary Jo Bang Examines Grief's Poetic Form, the Elegy
PBS: The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
and 1 others
April 11,
2008 -- In Thursday night's installment of its Poetry Series, WUSTL writer Mary Jo Bang examines grief's poetic form, the elegy.
She is professor of English and director of the Creative Writing Program at WUSTL. Her fifth book, "Elegy," which won of the National Book Critics Circle Award, examines the pain and grief following the death of her son. She shares two poems from the collection.
Includes a video link to this story.
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Autism Cases on the Rise; Reason for Increase a Mystery
WebMD.com
April 3,
2008 -- The number of children diagnosed with autism or related disorders has grown at what many call an alarming rate. Some of the increase in reported cases is because of "diagnostic substitution," says WUSTL social work professor Paul Shattuck, an autism researcher.
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Genetic Link Tied to Smoking Addiction
Associated Press
and 256 others
April 3,
2008 -- The discovery by three separate teams of scientists makes the strongest case so far for the biological underpinnings of nicotine addiction and sheds more light on how genetics and lifestyle habits join forces to cause cancer.
This finding could someday lead to screening tests and customized treatments for smokers trying to kick the habit.
"This is really telling us that the vulnerability to smoking and how much you smoke is clearly biologically based," said WUSTL psychiatry professor Laura Bierut, a genetics and smoking expert who did not take part in the studies. She praised the research as "very intriguing."
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Hillary Clinton's expectations contradict
United Press International
April 2,
2008 -- The challenge facing Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton is that people have contradictory expectations of women leaders. WUSTL business professor Judi McLean Parks says the character traits associated with people in leadership positions are stereotypically masculine -- being assertive or competitive.
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Consumer Debt, Not Housing Bubble, May Be Root of Economic Woes
ConsumerAffairs.com
April 2,
2008 -- WUSTL's Steven Fazzari, economics professor, comments on rising consumer indebtedness and it's role in the economic slowdown. Fazzari sees fundamental changes in the economy that are reducing the effectiveness of consumer spending as an economic driver.
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Reverse Your Risk
Good Housekeeping
April 1,
2008 -- WUSTL researcher Kathryn Diemer, clinical director of WUSTL's Bone Health Program, talks about bone-mineral density and other fracture risks in aging women.
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Commentary: Can insomnia kill?
Los Angeles Times
March 31,
2008 -- Commentary on insomnia mentions sleep studies of twins by WUSTL psychiatry professor Andrew Heath.
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McCain works to answer age and health questions
Boston Globe
and 5 others
March 27,
2008 -- David Carr, clinical director of WUSTL's division of geriatrics and nutritional science, said the fact that McCain has gone five years without a melanoma recurrence is good news.
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Stress Can Help Trigger Stroke
The Washington Post
and 8 others
March 4,
2008 -- The notion that stress can help bring on a stroke may have merit, British researchers say.
WUSTL neurology professor Mark Goldberg comments.
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Extracurriculars That Count
BusinessWeek.com
Feb. 26,
2008 -- Nanette Tarbouni, WUSTL undergraduate admissions director, talks about the importance of extracurriculars in undergraduate applications.
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Parents learn how to let go in the technological age
NPR Morning Edition
Feb. 8,
2008 -- When kids head off to college, parents are forced to separate themselves from what has been a constant hands-on job for years. Parents and students comment on "Letting Go: A Parents' Guide to Understanding the College Year," by WUSTL's Karen Levin Coburn.
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Missouri vote signals complex national mood
Chicago Tribune
Feb. 7,
2008 -- Missouri has an uncanny ability to choose presidential winners, going with the loser only once in the past century (Adlai Stevenson in 1956). The state is effectively an intersection of cultural forces — urban and rural, north and south, east and west — and it periodically swings with prevailing national moods.
WUSTL American culture studies director Wayne Fields comments.
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Blonde Ambition: Iconic Blondes Shape History
ABC News -- Good Morning America
Jan. 22,
2008 -- The art exhibit "Beauty and the Blonde: An Exploration of American Art and Popular Culture," is being presented by WUSTL's Kemper Art Museum. It is curated by Catharina Manchanda, and it includes the famous silkscreens of Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe and Roy Lichtenstein's pop art images of blondes in comics.
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