Event Contact

karenbland@wustl.edu

Speaker Information

Jennifer K. Lodge is Vice Chancellor for Research, Senior Associate Dean for Research and the David T. Blasingame Professor of Molecular Microbiology at Washington University in St. Louis. In her administrative roles, she guides school and university investments in research, as well as oversees research compliance, education, and grants and contracts. Her research focuses on vaccines and antifungals against Cryptococcus neoformans, a pathogenic fungus which infects the lungs and brain, largely in immunocompromised patients, causing more than 200,000 deaths every year. She completed both her doctorate and post-doctoral training here at Washington University, and has been on the faculty since 2009. 

Beverly Wendland is the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Washington University in St. Louis. As Provost, Beverly is the chief academic officer of WashU, responsible for teaching, learning, and research across the Danforth Campus. Appointed in 2020, in her first year she launched the university-wide strategic plan, oversaw a major cluster hire on race and ethnicity, and provided leadership through the COVID-19 crisis. An accomplished academic leader, Beverly previously served as Dean of the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences at Johns Hopkins University. As Dean, she built a stronger and more diverse student body, faculty, and staff; increased collaboration across schools and disciplines; and developed partnerships between JHU and Baltimore.  A distinguished scholar, Beverly’s research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. She is an author of numerous scholarly publications, and recipient of several prestigious awards. In 2015, she was recognized as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.