The Insider: 7.29.15

It was a sea of red, white and blue at a star-studded ‘Faith, Family and Fireworks’ themed birthday party earlier this month for Eric Rhone, manager of comedian Cedric the Entertainer. About 200 guests decked in patriotic colors were treated to a musical performance by Eddie Levert and a private fireworks display on the veranda of The Four Seasons Hotel downtown. In lieu of gifts, guests made donations to Annie Malone Children’s Center and New Life Evangelistic Center.
Pictured above: Eric Rhone and Cedric the Entertainer
Photo: Patrick Gaydon

Saint Louis University philosophy professor Daniel Haybron is all smiles after receiving $5.1 million to study happiness. The funding includes a $4.6 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation and $453,000 from SLU. Over the next three years, Haybron’s team will use the money to award 12 to 20 grants to philosophers, theologians and scholars for studies on the psychological aspects of well-being.

President Barack Obama has tapped Dr. Timothy Ley of Washington University School of Medicine to serve on the National Cancer Advisory Board. Ley is one of five chosen for the post. A hematologist, oncologist, and cancer biologist, Ley is best known for a 2008 study that decoded the entire genome of tumor cells and paved the way for innovative treatment based on a tumor’s genetic makeup rather than its location in the body. Photo Courtesy of Washington University

It was a St. Louis takeover in the Big Apple recently when 60 COCA supporters attended an Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performance at Lincoln Center. It was the final show featuring Antonio and Kirven Douthit-Boyd, who will join COCA as co-artistic directors of dance on Aug. 17. The group also hit Broadway for The Audience, featuring Helen Mirren alongside COCA student Elizabeth Teeter, 13, from Webster Groves, who was finishing a five-month run with the show.

Four St. Louis business owners are heading to sunny Palm Springs in November to compete against 600 others for Ernst & Young’s prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year award. Representing the Midwest, along with three others from Kansas and elsewhere in Missouri, are: David Bailey, owner of Bailey’s Restaurants (St. Louis); Gabe Douek, CEO of Gateway Media, LLC (Clayton); Bob Hummert, CEO of Grimco, Inc. (Fenton); and Rusty Keeley, CEO, The Keeley Companies (St. Louis). The only global award of its kind, the program recognizes innovative business leaders in 60 countries. The U.S. winner will vie for the worldwide title in Monaco next June. Photo Courtesy of Ernst & Young