In her free time, Dr. Sue Stepleton enjoys travel, opera and long walks in the park—but her real passion, is affecting public policy change to make headway on today’s most salient social issues. Stepleton joined Washington University in September of this year as director of the George Warren Brown School of Social’s new Policy Forum.

Professor Carl Phillips has been named a finalist for the National Book Award in poetry for his most recent book, “Double Shadow: Poems.” This is his fourth time being nominated for the award. “Double Shadow: Poems” is Phillips’ 11th published collection of poetry.

Professor Stephen H. Legomsky, from the Washington University School of Law, was recently appointed as chief counsel for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. He will officially assume the title on Oct. 24. As chief counsel, Legomsky will provide legal advice to immigration officials and serve as a member of the Department of Homeland Security leadership team.

Lan Yang, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, will travel to Washington, D.C., next week to receive the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineering Professionals (PECASE) from the United States Department of Defense.

According to the May 2010 pay equity report, female professors at Washington University are paid less than their male counterparts. The report, which looked at the 2008-2009 salary information of both tenured and tenure-track faculty, concluded that female professors make less than male professors in every Danforth Campus school.

Bob Hansman is an associate professor in the architecture school and the founder of City Faces, an art instruction program to inspire children living in the projects. Hansman experienced homelessness first-hand in his early adult life. Student Life’s Evan Freedman sat down with Hansman to talk about his story.

Two Mars rovers, Opportunity and Spirit, recently found signs of water that ran beneath the planet’s surface in the distant past. Both rovers are directed through the Earth and Planetary Remote Sensing Laboratory at Washington University.

This weekend, Washington University honored the 90th birthday of economics professor Douglass C. North with an academic conference headlined with speeches by internationally acclaimed economists. North, winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Economics for his research on the influences of institutions on economic growth, has taught at Washington University since 1983.

The John C. Danforth Center on Religion & Politics will be hosting a forum this afternoon to discuss the role of religion in last week’s midterm election. Students and professors across campus are curious as to what will be discussed, as many perceived minimal influence of religion in the most recent election.

The son of a Washington University physics professor notorious for vocally condemning homosexuality came out as gay in Sunday’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch.