Three Berkeley faculty elected to National Academy of Sciences
High honor previously accorded 125 of their colleagues

30 April 2003

Three Berkeley faculty members, including the campus’s most recent Nobel laureate, were elected on Tuesday to the National Academy of Sciences.

The new members from Berkeley are George Akerlof, Goldman Professor of Economics and co-winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in economics; William Dietrich, professor of earth and planetary sciences; and Michael Hout, professor of sociology.

The three are among 72 new members and 18 foreign associates elected “in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research,” according to the academy. Membership in the academy is considered one of the highest honors that can be accorded an American scientist or engineer. Among the 1,922 active members and 341 foreign associates, 128 are at Berkeley.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private organization of scientists and engineers dedicated to the furtherance of science and its use for the general welfare. It was established in 1863 by a congressional act of incorporation, signed by Abraham Lincoln, which calls on the academy to act as an official adviser to the federal government, upon request, in any matter of science or technology.