Guinevere Kauffmann elected to the US National Academy of Sciences

At the beginning of May, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences announced that MPA scientist Guinevere Kauffmann is among the 84 newly elected members chosen this year in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Guinevere will be inducted into the Academy next April during its 150th annual meeting in Washington, D.C. Election to the NAS is considered the highest distinction which the US scientific community confers on its members. Renowned past members include Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer, Thomas Edison, Orville Wright and Alexander Graham Bell. Nearly 200 living academy members have won Nobel Prizes.

Fig.: Guinevere Kauffmann

It is quite unusual for Americans working abroad to be elected. This year only two of the 84 new members work outside the US. Guinevere is also one of only two astronomers elected this year, the other being Marcia J. Rieke from the University of Arizona. In her research, Guinevere studies the formation and evolution of galaxies both theoretically, using computer based semi-analytic models, and observationally, through the analysis of large multiwavelength surveys.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, non-profit honorific society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research. It is dedicated to the furthering of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. It regularly advises the US government on scientific questions related to public policy. Established in 1863, the National Academy of Sciences is charged to "investigate, examine, experiment, and report upon any subject of science or art."

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