UCSC was once able to boast that 20 of its faculty members belonged to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a prestigious independent policy research center whose elected members consist of the cream of American academics, arts, business, and public affairs. Four more professors will be joining them in a class that includes Christiane Amanpour, Francis Ford Coppola, John Lithgow, Mike Leigh, Steve Martin and Denzel Washington.
Those are the probably the best-known names, but the Academy consists primarily of people known for their contributions to the sciences. The four professors from UCSC represent physics, earth sciences, biology and environmental sciences.
John Dine is a theoretical physicist whose theories about string theory will be tested this summer at the Large Hadron Collider. Gary Glatzmaier has developed computer models that simulate the structure and dynamics of star interiors. Susan Strome is a developmental biologist whose area of specialization is the germ cells that produce eggs and sperm cells. John Thompson studies coevolution among species and how that impact’s the planet’s biodiversity.
The four will be inducted into the Academy in October at a ceremony in Cambridge, Mass. Read more at Santa Cruz Sentinel.
