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This year, four individuals from the Caltech faculty are included among the 120 members and 30 international constituents elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Being elected to this academy is regarded as one of the highest professional accolades a scientist can receive.
The faculty members chosen for NAS this year consist of Jean-Philippe Avouac, the Earle C. Anthony Professor of Geology and Mechanical and Civil Engineering, along with his role as director of the Center for Geomechanics and the Mitigation of Geohazards; Garnet Kin-Lic Chan, Bren Professor of Chemistry and director of the Rudolph A. Marcus Center for Theoretical Chemistry at Caltech; Julia R. Greer, the Ruben F. and Donna Mettler Professor of Materials Science, Mechanics, and Medical Engineering and the Fletcher Jones Foundation Director of the Kavli Nanoscience Institute at Caltech; and Shu-ou Shan, the Altair Professor of Chemistry and executive officer for biochemistry and molecular biophysics at Caltech.
Jean-Philippe Avouac employs geological, seismological, geodetic, and remote sensing data to formulate dynamic models of crustal deformation, landscape development, and seismic activities. His contributions have notably improved physics-based approaches for seismic risk evaluation and have enhanced our understanding of how underground fluid manipulation induces human-induced earthquakes.
Garnet Kin-Lic Chan operates at the crossroads of theoretical chemistry, condensed matter physics, and quantum information theory, with a broad emphasis on simulating chemical and physical systems using many-particle quantum mechanics. His laboratory, for instance, conducted quantum mechanical simulations that revealed low-energy states present in intricate metallocluster cores essential for crucial natural processes like photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation. Over the past decade, his team has created and improved numerous methods addressing various facets of quantum simulation.
Julia R. Greer concentrates on developing hierarchical materials that are meticulously designed at the micro- and nano-scale utilizing advanced manufacturing methods such as 3D lithography and nanofabrication. Her team aims to discover new material properties that can emerge when particular individual nanoscale components are utilized to create specific architectures. The scope of her research applications includes chemical and biological devices, ultralight energy-storage solutions, resilient fabrics, additive manufacturing, and intelligent multifunctional materials.
Shu-ou Shan seeks to comprehend how the intricacy and arrangement of living cells emerge from the self-assembly mechanisms of nonliving biomolecules. Her group endeavors to unravel the molecular foundations of various cellular pathways involved in protein biosynthesis, including folding, localization, modification, and quality assurance, in addition to using these frameworks as models to grasp how precision is achieved from noisy and redundant molecular signals in biology.
Moreover, four Caltech alumni have also been elected to the academy. They include Gary W. Brudvig (PhD ’81), the Benjamin Silliman Professor of Chemistry and professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale University; Greg Lemke (PhD ’83), the Françoise Gilot–Salk Chair and chief science officer at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies; Heather D. Maynard (PhD ’01), the Dr. Myung Ki Hong Professor in Polymer Science at UCLA; and Norman Murray (BS ’79), professor of astrophysics at the University of Toronto, Canada.
The academy mentions that these new inductees raise the total number of active members to 2,662, while the count of nonvoting international members reaches 556.
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