Speeches & Writings

As you leave here and pursue your unique path, you’ll start to solidify your own foundational principles. Instead of pop quizzes, like the one I gave you today, you’ll be answering questions like: Who are you responsible for besides yourself? What are you willing to do to get ahead? What are you willing to sacrifice for the greater good? And what do you know to be true that you haven’t yet found the courage to speak about?

I’m proud to share extraordinary news for our university and for the future of public health. The Bursky Family Foundation has made a historic and transformational $200 million commitment to support our School of Public Health, which will now be named the Andrew M. and Jane M. Bursky School of Public Health.

The entire WashU campus community was invited to watch Chancellor Andrew D. Martin’s 2026 State of the University address. Chancellor Martin shared priority updates and insights about the upcoming year and beyond. The event, was livestreamed on Monday, March 2 at 2 p.m.

The University of Health Sciences’ Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program will become WashU’s 10th academic school, to be known as the WashU St. Louis College of Pharmacy.

Dear WashU Community, University life is full of paradoxes: tensions or contradictions that shouldn’t work, but somehow do. We work and study within divisions and schools that define our professional or scholarly identities, yet we often innovate best when we think and work across disciplines. We listen with open minds to the perspectives of our […]

Dear WashU students, faculty and staff, I want to share with you that WashU has been invited by the federal administration to participate in a conversation about the future of higher education, and that we have accepted the invitation. The willingness to engage constructively, even when there are differing perspectives, is core to our role […]

Dear WashU Faculty and Staff, I want to take a moment to provide you with an update on WashU’s financial situation and the actions we’ve taken in recent months to ensure that the university is on a sustainable path forward. As I’ve shared previously, we’re in this position for several reasons. Some stem from external […]

Welcome to the 2025-2026 academic year! I hope your summer brought time with family and friends, quiet reflection, deep thinking, exciting adventures, or perhaps just the simple pleasure of slowing down.

As I’ve described previously, proposals to dramatically reduce funding at the National Institutes of Health and efforts to cap indirect cost recovery for federal research remain two serious challenges facing WashU. However, I’m encouraged by recent developments among a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators who are standing in support of NIH and the importance of university-based research.

As we prepare to begin the new academic year in the coming weeks, I want to share an important update regarding our university budget, including a final decision about the FY26 merit increase.