A push to elect more women to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS) appears to be paying off. NAS announced today that a record-breaking 17 women are part of its new class of 72 members, and that four women are among the 18 new foreign associates. The domestic number shatters the previous record of 11 women, elected last year, while the pool of new foreign associates has never contained more than one woman. The figure of 23% women in this year's class is roughly twice the percentage of full professors at U.S. universities. Overall, women now make up 7.7% of the academy's 2015 living members.
"What began 4 to 5 years ago has borne fruit this year," says NAS Home Secretary Stephen Berry of the University of Chicago. "People are clearly trying to identify women who have been overlooked, but the [nomination] process can take several years."
Berry says he expects the number of women to remain high in future years, although the fields of economics and geophysical sciences are still "very thin." He also notes that the academy has made little progress in electing more African-American and Hispanic members and that some sort of "special mechanism" may be needed to address the issue.
| AKERLOF, GEORGE A.; Goldman
Professor of Economics, University of California, Berkeley
ALTMANN, JEANNE; professor, department of ecology and evolutionary biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey ANDREWS, GEORGE E., Evan Pugh Professor of Mathematics, Pennsylvania State University, University Park BARGMANN, CORNELIA I.; investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and professor and vice chair, department of anatomy, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco BARTOSHUK, LINDA M.; professor, departments of surgery and of psychology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut BAXTER, JOHN D.; professor of medicine, University of California, San Francisco BEAK, PETER; Roger Adams Professor of Chemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign BERGER, JAMES O.; Arts and Sciences Professor of Statistics, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina BUCK, LINDA B.; investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and principal investigator, department of neurobiology, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle CARSON, DENNIS A.; professor of medicine, and director, Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego CASHMORE, ANTHONY R.; Robert I. Williams Professor of Biology, and director, Plant Sciences Institute, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia CHAUDHARI, PRAVEEN; director, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York CHISHOLM, SALLIE W.; Lee and Geraldine Martin Professor of Environmental Studies, and co-director, Earth System Initiative, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge COLLER, BARRY S.; David Rockefeller Professor of Medicine, and head, Laboratory of Blood and Vascular Biology, Rockefeller University, New York City DEMING, JODY W.; professor of biological oceanography, University of Washington, Seattle DEROSIER, DAVID J.; Abraham S. and Gertrude Burg Professor of Life Sciences, and director, W. M. Keck Institute for Cellular Visualization, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts DIETERICH, JAMES H.; senior research scientist, Earthquake Hazards Team, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California DIETRICH, WILLIAM E.; professor, department of earth and planetary sciences, University of California, Berkeley ELIASHBERG, YAKOV; professor of mathematics, Stanford University, Stanford, California ELLEDGE, STEPHEN J.; investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and professor, department of biochemistry and molecular genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston FENN, JOHN B.; Research Professor of Chemistry, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond FISK, LENNARD A.; professor and chair, department of atmospheric, oceanic, and space sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor FORNEY, G. DAVID, JR.; Bernard M. Gordon Adjunct Professor, department of electrical engineering and computer science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology FOWLER, JOANNA S.; senior chemist, Brookhaven National Laboratory FREEDMAN, WENDY L.; director, Observatories of the Carnegie Institution, Pasadena, California GAGE, FRED H.; Vi and John Adler Professor, laboratory of genetics, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, San Diego GOLOMB, SOLOMON W.; Andrew and Erna Viterbi Professor of Communications and University Professor, University of Southern California, Los Angeles GREIDER, CAROL W.; professor, department of molecular biology and genetics, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore HALL, JEFFREY C.; professor of biology, Brandeis University HASTINGS, J. WOODLAND; Paul C. Mangelsdorf Professor of Natural Sciences, department of molecular and cellular biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts HELD, ISAAC M.; senior research scientist, and head, Climate Dynamics Group, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Princeton, New Jersey HESS, KARL; Swanlund Endowed Chair and professor, department of electrical and computer engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign HORWICH, ARTHUR; investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and professor, department of genetics, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut HOUT, MICHAEL; professor of sociology, University of California, Berkeley JAENISCH, RUDOLF; professor of biology and member, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology KASPERSON, ROGER E.; executive director, Stockholm Environment Institute, Stockholm, Sweden |
KENYON, CYNTHIA J.; Herbert Boyer Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco KLEIN, RICHARD G.; professor of anthropological sciences, Stanford University KULKARNI, SHRINIVAS R.; McArthur Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena LAMB, ROBERT A.; investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and John Evans Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois LEAN, JUDITH L.; research physicist, space science division, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. LI, WEN-HSIUNG; George Wells Beadle Distinguished Service Professor, department of ecology and evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago LIPMAN, DAVID J.; director, National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland LUDWIG, MARTHA L.; professor, department of biological chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor MATHIS, DIANE J.; William T. Young Chair in Diabetes Research and co-head, immunology and immunogenetics section, Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston MELOSH, HENRY J.; professor, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson MILES, EDWARD L.; Virginia and Prentice Bloedel Professor of Marine and Public Affairs, University of Washington, Seattle NAGEL, SIDNEY R.; Stein-Freiler Distinguished Service Professor in Physics, University of Chicago NASRALLAH, JUNE B.; professor, department of plant biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York NIX, WILLIAM D.; Lee Otterson Professor of Engineering Emeritus, department of materials science and engineering, Stanford University QUINN, HELEN R. A.; permanent scientific staff and assistant to the director for education and public outreach, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, Stanford, California ROSBASH, MICHAEL; investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and professor of biology, Brandeis University ROSS, A. CATHARINE; professor and Dorothy Foehr Huck Chair in Nutrition, Pennsylvania State University SAIF, LINDA J.; professor, Food Animal Health Research Program, Ohio State University, Wooster SCHECHTER, PAUL L.; William A. M. Burden Professor of Astrophysics and division head of astrophysics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology SCHLESINGER, WILLIAM H.; James B. Duke Professor of Biogeochemistry and dean, Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, Duke University SILBEY, ROBERT J.; Class of 1942 Professor of Chemistry and dean of science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology SMITH, BRUCE D.; senior scientist, curator of North American archaeology, and director, Archaeobiology Program, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. STEELE, CLAUDE M.; professor of psychology and Lucie Stern Professor in the Social Sciences, Stanford University STINCHCOMBE, ARTHUR L.; professor emeritus, department of sociology, Northwestern University STROUD, ROBERT M.; professor of biochemistry and biophysics and of pharmaceutical chemistry, University of California, San Francisco TAKAHASHI, JOSEPH S.; investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Walter and Mary Elizabeth Glass Professor in the Life Sciences, Northwestern University TEUKOLSKY, SAUL A.; H. A. Bethe Professor of Physics and Astrophysics, and director, Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Cornell University THOMASHOW, MICHAEL F.; professor, departments of crop and soil sciences and of microbiology, and member, MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing TIEDJE, JAMES M.; University Distinguished Professor and director, NSF Science and Technology Center for Microbial Ecology, Michigan State University VAN ETTEN, JAMES L.; William Allington Distinguished Professor in Plant Pathology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln VAN HARLINGEN, DALE J.; professor of physics, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign WANDELL, BRIAN A.; Isaac and Madeline Stein Family Professor, department of psychology, Stanford University WEISS, ARTHUR; investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; and Ephraim P. Engleman Distinguished Professor, and chair, division of rheumatology, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco WENDER, PAUL A.; Bergstrom Professor of Chemistry, Stanford University YABLONOVITCH, ELI; professor of electrical engineering, University of California, Los Angeles YANAGISAWA, MASASHI; investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Patrick E. Haggerty Professor of Molecular Genetics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas |
The newly elected foreign associates are:
| BREZIN, Edouard; professor,
laboratory of theoretical physics, École Normale
Supérieure, Paris (France)
BREZIS, Haim; professor, department of mathematics, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris (France) CASTILLA, Juan Carlos; professor, groupo ecologia marina, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago (Chile) CHEN, Zhu; professor and director, Institute of Hematology, Shanghai Second Medical University (People's Republic of China) HERRERA-ESTRELLA, Luis; director, plant biotechnology unit, and professor, Center for Research and Advanced Studies, National Polytechnic Institute, Guanajuato (Mexico) HERSHKO, Avram; Distinguished Professor, department of biochemistry, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa (Israel) KROEMER, Herbert; professor of electrical engineering and of materials, University of California, Santa Barbara (Germany) LALLEMENT, Rosine; professor and director of research, Centre National de la Recherché Scientifique, Verrieres-le-Buisson (France) MANZANILLA, Linda; investigator and full professor, Institute of Anthropological Investigations, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City (Mexico) NOYORI, Ryoji; professor of chemistry and director, Research Center for Materials Science, Nagoya University (Japan) |
PARISI, Giorgio; professor, department of
physics, University of Rome (Italy)
RAFF, Martin C.; professor, MRC Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology and biology department, University College London, United Kingdom (Canada) SIDDIQI, Obaid; professor, and director, National Center for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute for Fundamental Research, Bangalore (India) TANIGUCHI, Tadatsugu; professor and chairperson, department of immunology, University of Tokyo (Japan) TARKOWSKI, Andrzej K.; professor and head, department of embryology, and director, Institute of Zoology, Warsaw University (Poland) THORNTON, Janet; director, European Bioinformatics Institute, Cambridge (United Kingdom) WALKER, Alan C.; Evan Pugh Professor of Anthropology and Biology, Pennsylvania State University (United Kingdom) YONATH, Ada; director, Helen and Milton A. Kimmelman Center for Micromolecular Structure and Assembly, Weizmann Institute of Sciences, Rehovot (Israel) |
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