Dear WashU Community,
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. Whatever form your renewal took, I hope you’re ready for a new year of discovery, growth, and meaningful work together.
In the past two weeks, I’ve had the joy of meeting new students, families, and faculty, and I’ve reconnected with many familiar faces as well. None of the work I do inside my office or conference room can replace what happens when I spend time in our campus community spaces, with the people who make WashU special. These interactions remind me that our greatest strength is the shared sense of purpose that drives everything we do here.
That pursuit begins with an unwavering dedication to doing our best work. Whether you’re a student tackling a challenging course load, a researcher pushing the boundaries of knowledge, a clinician providing compassionate patient care, or a staff member ensuring our community thrives, we’re all united by a shared commitment to the highest standards. This isn’t about perfection. It’s about bringing our full selves to work that has the power to change lives and shape the future.
Equally important is our commitment to intellectual courage. The questions we ask here aren’t always comfortable ones. The research we conduct sometimes challenges conventional thinking. The discussions in our classrooms can push us to reconsider deeply held assumptions. This is exactly as it should be. Truth emerges not from avoiding difficult conversations but from engaging them with rigor, respect, and an openness to where the evidence leads us.
And perhaps most fundamentally, our strength comes from who we are together. Every person in this community brings unique perspectives, experiences, and talents that make our collective work richer and more impactful. When we create space for all voices to be heard, when we actively seek out different viewpoints, when we support each other’s growth and success, that’s when we achieve something no individual could accomplish alone.
I think about this often as I consider the challenges facing our world. Complex problems demand the kind of thoughtful, innovative solutions that emerge from communities like ours. Issues like climate change, health disparities, emerging diseases, and educational access won’t be solved by any single discipline or perspective. They require the kind of collaborative, multifaceted approach that WashU is uniquely positioned to provide.
This year, I encourage each of you to embrace the full scope of what this community offers. Seek out conversations with people whose expertise differs from your own. Take intellectual risks in your work and studies. Support your classmates’ and colleagues’ boldest ideas, even when they challenge your own thinking. This is how we honor our responsibility to contribute something meaningful to the world.
The year ahead will undoubtedly bring its share of surprises and challenges. But I’ve learned that our community’s greatest strength lies in how we navigate uncertainty together, grounded in our shared commitment to truth, excellence, and the belief that education and research have the power to build a better future.
I’m grateful to each of you for choosing to be part of this work, and I’m excited to see what we’ll discover and accomplish together in the months ahead.
Welcome back, and my very best to you as we begin this new chapter.
Sincerely,
ADM