Date: April 29, 2003
WASHINGTON -- The National Academy of Sciences
today announced the election of 72 new members and 18 foreign
associates from 11 countries in recognition of their distinguished
and continuing achievements in original research.
The election was held this morning during the
business session of the 140th annual meeting of the Academy.
Election to membership in the Academy is considered one of
the highest honors that can be accorded a U.S. scientist or
engineer. Those elected today bring the total number of active
members to 1,922.
Foreign associates are nonvoting members of the
Academy, with citizenship outside the United States. Today's
election brings the total number of foreign associates to 341.
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.
Additional information about the institution is
available on the Internet at http://national-academies.org.
A full directory of NAS members can be found online at http://national-academies.org/nas.
Dr. Van Etten is a William Allington Distinguished
Professor of Plant Pathology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
and Co-director of the Nebraska Center for Virology. His election
was the result of his research on the discovery and continued
characterization of a new family of large dsDNA viruses that
infect certain eukaryotic chlorella-like green algae. Genetically
these are among the most complex viruses found to date; they
contain ~375 protein-encoding genes and 11 tRNA encoding genes.
Election to membership in the Academy is considered one of
the highest honors that can be accorded a U.S. scientist or
engineer.
For more information about Dr. Van Etten, visit
his page on this website and also see: http://plantpath.unl.edu/faculty/VanEtten/profile.html. |
