Four members of the Caltech faculty are among the 120 members and 30 international members elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) this year. Election to the academy is considered one of the highest professional honors that can be bestowed upon a scientist.
The faculty members elected to the NAS this year are Jean-Philippe Avouac, the Earle C. Anthony Professor of Geology and Mechanical and Civil Engineering and director of the Center for Geomechanics and the Mitigation of Geohazard s; 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 uses geological, seismological, geodetic and remote sensing observations to develop dynamic models of crustal deformation, landscape evolution and earthquakes. In particular, his work has led to improved physics-based methods for seismic hazard assessment and has advanced the understanding of how underground fluid injection and extraction trigger human-made earthquakes.
Garnet Kin-Lic Chan works at the interface of theoretical chemistry, condensed matter physics, and quantum information theory, and focuses broadly on the simulation of chemical and physical systems at the level of many-particle quantum mechanics. For example, his lab carried out quantum mechanical simulations that helped unveil the low-energy states existing in complex metallocluster cores like those that drive vital natural processes such as photosynthesis and nitrogen fixation. Over the last decade, his group has contributed to and invented a variety of methods addressing different aspects of quantum simulations.
Julia R. Greer focuses on creating hierarchical materials that are carefully architected at the micro- and nano-level using advanced manufacturing techniques such as 3D lithography and nanofabrication. Her group strives to uncover new material properties that can emerge when unique individual nanoscale building blocks are used to synthesize specific architectures. The applications of her research span chemical and biological devices, ultralightweight energy-storage systems, damage-tolerant fabrics, additive manufacturing, and smart multifunctional materials.
Shu-ou Shan strives to understand how the complexity and organization of living cells arise from the self-assembly processes of inanimate biomolecules. Her group strives to decipher the molecular basis of diverse cellular pathways during the biosynthesis of proteins including folding, localization, modification and quality control, and to use these systems as models to understand how accuracy is generated from noisy and degenerate molecular signals in biology.
Additionally, four Caltech alumni were elected to the academy. They are 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 of 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.
According to the academy, the new additions bring the total number of active members to 2,662 and the total number of nonvoting international members to 556.
