ROCKVILLE, MD — Several members of the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) have been elected as new members or foreign associates of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
Six current ASPB members were elected to this year's class:
New members
- Xinnian Dong – Professor of Biology, Duke University; and Howard Hughes Medical Institute-Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Investigator
- Harry Klee – Professor of Horticultural Sciences; University of Florida, Gainesville
- Sabeeha Merchant – Professor of Biochemistry; University of California, Los Angeles
- Natasha Raikhel – Distinguished Professor of Plant Biology; University of California, Riverside
Foreign Associates
- George Coupland – Director, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research
- Ottoline Leyser – Associate Director; The Sainsbury Laboratory University of Cambridge
One additional plant biologist, unaffiliated with the society, was also selected as a new member:
- Pedro Sanchez – Director, Tropical Agriculture and Rural Environment; The Earth Institute, Columbia University
These plant biologists are among the 84 new members and 21 foreign associates just elected. There are now 2,152 active NAS members and 430 foreign associates.
The National Academy of Sciences is a private honorific society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific research. Established in 1863 by a congressional act of incorporation signed by Abraham Lincoln, the academy acts as an official adviser to the federal government through its operating arm, the National Research Council, administered with its sister organizations, the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine. Additional information about the academy and its members is available at http://www.nasonline.org/.
ASPB is a professional scientific society, headquartered in Rockville, Maryland, devoted to the advancement of the plant sciences worldwide. With a membership of some 4500 plant scientists from throughout the United States and more than 50 other nations, the Society publishes two of the most widely cited plant science journals: The Plant Cell and Plant Physiology. For more information about ASPB, please visit http://www.aspb.org/. Also follow ASPB on Facebook at facebook.com/myASPB and on Twitter @ASPB.