Four University of Michigan professors are among the most recent inductees into the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest distinctions for scientists and engineers in the U.S.
The academy announced the election of 120 members and 26 international members in recognition of their research achievements. The following U-M professors were added:
- Janet L. Smith, professor of biological chemistry in the medical school and the Margaret J. Hunter Collegiate Professor at the Life Sciences Institute
- Joel Blum, the John D. MacArther Professor, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, and Gerald J. Keeler Distinguished Professor of earth and environmental sciences in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
- Arul Chinnaiyan, investigator in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the S.P. Hicks Endowed Professor of Pathology, American Cancer Society Research Professor, and director of the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology at the medical school
- Robert L. Griess, the John Griggs Thompson University Professor, department of mathematics in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.
The newly elected members bring the total number of active members to 2,403 and the total number of international members to 501.
The academy is a private nonprofit institution that was established under a congressional charter signed by former President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It recognizes achievement in science by election to membership and, with the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine, provides science, engineering, and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations.
