Academy Elects 72 New Members

Click here for additional photos of life scientists elected to the National Academy of Sciences This past May, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) elected its new members and with the election came another round of criticisms that the NAS is elitist and gender biased, that the election process is outmoded, and that truly great scientists go unrecognized.1 Allegations aside, however, this year's election was the biggest ever--the first in which 72 members were chosen--and it signals the recog

Written byMaria Anderson

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"I remember the first time I went to the National Academies in 1995," says Gerald Joyce, investigator at Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology and professor in the department of chemistry and molecular biology at Scripps Research Institute. "I couldn't believe how august it was--how much mahogany there was. I was awestruck. It was very sobering." Now elected, Joyce will become part of pomp and circumstance when inducted at the annual meeting in April 2002.

Still considered one of the highest honors bestowed upon a scientist, election into the NAS brings with it the opportunity and responsibility to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. That advisory role remains its primary mandate since Congress chartered the NAS in 1863. Americans caught a glimpse of this role with the report released by the NAS on global warming June 6.²

Members and foreign associates, currently numbering 2,280, represent 31 different scientific ...

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