Dr. Richard E. Munsterman, former chair and professor emeritus of industrial and manufacturing engineering, died Feb. 4 at age 79. Memorial guestbook entries can be made online.

At its March 25 meeting, the WMU Board of Trustees approved the retirements of nine employees. Trustees also signed off on one promotion, two sabbatical leaves and the return of four administrators to the faculty.

WMU's School of Music will present the 47th annual Spring Conference on Wind and Percussion Music Thursday, April 16. The daylong event is free and open to the public.

The concert, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 12, in Miller Auditorium. The band will play works from featured composer Dana Wilson.

The all-student cast will stage the award-winning musical April 10-19 in the Williams Theatre at the Gilmore Theatre Complex. Graduating music theatre performance majors will perform following some shows.

Russell J. Grandstaff, professor emeritus of theatre, died Dec. 20, 2014, at age 86. Grandstaff joined the WMU faculty in 1965 and retired in 1991 after 26 years of service to the University.

The actor, impressionist and YouTube sensation is coming to Miller Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 28. This event has been canceled due to a scheduling conflict.

The $416,816 grant from the National Institutes of Health will further Dr. James Springstead's research into understanding the underlying biological mechanisms that lead to heart disease.

At its Jan. 22 meeting, the WMU Board of Trustees signed off one faculty and 12 staff member retirements. The board also approved one resignation as well as two sabbatical leaves.

Albert E. Castel III, professor emeritus of history, died Nov. 14, 2014, in Columbus, Ohio at age 86. Services and interment have occurred. Memorial guestbook entries can be made online.

Scholarship opportunities have increased for undergraduate and graduate students without advanced foreign language proficiency to study language and culture abroad.

The march will start at 10 a.m. Thursday, April 2, in Bronson Park and end at 10:45 a.m. on campus at Miller Auditorium. There also will be an opening ceremony at 9:15 and an after-march program from 11:45 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Christy Malone will speak at 8 a.m. Friday, April 10, in 2150 Schneider Hall as part of the Haworth College of Business Entrepreneurship Forum. The event is free and open to the public; reservations are required.

The $15,000 prize was awarded by an international panel of judges for the design of the The Local Loop Farm. The team was challenged to work collaboratively across  disciplinary boundaries to create a circular economy.

The Cleveland Orchestra trombonist will perform a concert at 8 p.m. Friday, April 3, in the Dalton Center Recital Hall. Israel will also give a master class earlier in the day.

Scott Blackwood, author of the novels "See How Small" and "We Agreed to Meet Just Here," will read from his works at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 2, in the Little Theatre.

The early music ensemble will perform works including a 16th-century hymn at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 2, in the Dalton Center Recital Hall. The concert is free and open to the public.

Dr. Arthur Kleinman, Harvard University professor of medical anthropology in global health and social medicine and professor of psychiatry, will speak at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 2, in Shaw Theatre.

The quartet, which performs the works of contemporary composers, will appear at 7:30 p.m. April 1 in the Dalton Center Recital Hall. The performance will be preceded by a 7 p.m. discussion hosted by Dr. Robert White.

Registration is open for several noncredit courses being offered to the public in Kalamazoo and in Grand Rapids or online. They include business courses and GRE- and LSAT-prep courses.

A presentation Monday, March 30, by James Forman Jr. from the Yale Law School will kick off a new series of community forums called "Unequal Justice: Race, Class and the Criminal Justice System."

A five-year-old effort to track the postgraduate activities of WMU alumni has revealed a 90.1 percent rate of active engagement after graduation, with 80.1 percent employed in jobs related to their discipline.

Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, an African-American and Iranian artist and freelance illustrator originally from Oklahoma, will speak at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 2, in 1004 Richmond Center for Visual Arts.

The documentary, produced and directed by Dr. Jennifer Machiorlatti and first in a three-part series, will have its local debut at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, in 1025 Brown Hall.

Drs. Julie Apker and Christine Browning have been named Graduate College Faculty Fellows for 2015. Fellows make significant contributions to WMU's graduate education while developing as campus leaders.

Dr. C. James Hueng and Dr. Xiaojun Wang are the recipients of the fourth annual Timothy Light Center for Chinese Studies Research grant. Each awardee will receive $3,000 to support a research project and publication.

More than 400 middle and high school students from five counties will gather Saturday, March 28, or the Region 10 Science Olympiad competition. Many WMU students, faculty and staff volunteers will be on hand.

Dr. Simon Forde, who most recently served as the head of acquisitions at Amsterdam University Press and publisher of the press' European History list, has taken the helm of the Medieval Institute's publishing arm.

The national Arbor Day Foundation has again recertified WMU as a Tree Campus in recognition of the University's outreach efforts and effective management of its campus trees.

Judith A. Rypma will read from her latest book, a collection of poems titled "Amber Notes," during a public reading at 8 p.m. Monday, March 30, on campus in 3025 Brown Hall.