Awards

09 May 2001 |

Eight faculty members elected to National Academy of Sciences
Eight faculty members have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors for a U.S scientist or engineer.

The professors are among 72 new members and 15 foreign associates announced May 1 by the academy, chosen in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. An additional member was elected posthumously.

Those elected today bring the total number of active members nationwide to 1,874, of which 126 are at Berkeley.

The new campus members are:
• Leo Breiman, professor emeritus of statistics and founder and former director of the Statistical Computing Facility. His specialty is the analysis of statistical methods used in pattern recognition and prediction in high-dimensional spaces.
• Stuart Freedman, professor of physics and an expert in the area of nuclear physics.
• Inez Fung, director of the Center for Atmospheric Sciences and a professor in the departments of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Environmental Science, Policy and Management. Fung specializes in climate and biogeochemical cycles.
• Alexander Glazer, director of the University of California’s Natural Reserve System and professor of the graduate school in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology. He studies macromolecular complexes and the design and applications of fluorescent probes.
• Robion Kirby, professor of mathematics with an emphasis on the topology of manifolds.
• Mimi Koehl, professor of integrative biology and a member of the biomechanics group. She studies aerodynamic structures in animals in search of keys to their evolution.
• John Kuriyan, professor of chemistry and of molecular and cell biology, and an investigator in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Kuriyan explores how particular structures and atomic interactions underlie the transmission of information from the cell surface to the nucleus and the components of chromosomal DNA replication. He will join the faculty July 1 from Rockefeller University.
• Patricia Zambryski, professor of plant and microbial biology and a specialist in floral differentiation.

American Academy of Arts and Sciences
On April 26, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences announced the names of 185 new fellows from across the nation and 26 new foreign honorary members. The members of the new class were chosen in recognition of their contributions to fields ranging from mathematics to literary criticism and the performing arts.

Berkeley faculty elected were: Professor Richard Buxbaum, law; Professor in the Graduate School Hubert Dreyfus, philosophy; Professor Alan Dundes, anthropology; Professor Peter Evans, sociology; Professor Stuart Linn, molecular and cell biology; Professor Christos Papadimitriou, electrical engineering and computer sciences; Professor Kenneth Raymond, chemistry; Professor Barbara Romanowicz, earth and planetary science and director of the Berkeley seismological laboratory; Professor Daniel Rubinfeld, law and economics; Professor Ignacio Tinoco, chemistry; Professor Janet Yellen, economics, Haas School of Business; Michael Marletta, who holds a joint appointment in chemistry and molecular and cell biology, was also elected; he will join the faculty July 1.

Steven Brenner, Noam Sobel
Fifteen individuals doing research in the chemical and biological sciences have been named as the 2001 Searle Scholars. Among them are Berkeley scientists Steven Brenner, assistant professor of plant and microbial biology, and Noam Sobel, assistant professor of psychology. Each will receive $240,000 to support his research programs during the next three years.

This year’s Searle Scholars were selected from among 173 applications from recently appointed assistant professors, nominated by 93 universities and research institutions. The 11-member scientific advisory board looked for individuals who have demonstrated innovative research with the potential for making significant contributions to biological research over an extended period of time.