Three UCLA professors elected to National Academy of Sciences

Three UCLA professors have been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences "in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research," the academy announced today. Only three universities — Harvard, UC San Francisco and Stanford — had more faculty elected this year. UCLA, UC Berkeley and UC Irvine each have three new members, placing four UC campuses among the top six universities in the country. Membership in the academy is one of the highest honors given to a scientist in the United States. Among the academy's most renowned members have been Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer, Thomas Edison, Orville Wright and Alexander Graham Bell. There are currently more than 2,000 active academy members, of whom nearly 200 have been awarded the Nobel Prize. The election of this year's UCLA members, who are among 72 new members from across the U.S. and 18 foreign associates from 14 countries, brings the number of current UCLA academy members to 37.