National Academy of Sciences adds eight from UC Berkeley to its ranks

The National Academy of Sciences has added eight UC Berkeley faculty members to its esteemed ranks of scholars and experts who advise governments and other organizations on subjects in academic fields ranging from chemistry and physics to psychology and economic policy. 

This year’s election of 120 members and 30 international members recognizes scholars’ distinguished and continuing achievements in original research, the National Academy of Sciences announced Tuesday. Those elected this week bring the total number of active members to 2,662 and the total number of international members to 556.

The new members from Berkeley have spent decades researching gene editing, materials science, very young children’s intelligence, the depths of the universe, and more. They are:

Kathleen Collins, a professor and the Walter and Ruth Schubert Family Chair in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology. Collins studies the enzyme telomerase and its role in aging and has recently transitioned her lab to explore eukaryotic retroelements and gene therapy technologies.

Michael F. Crommie, a professor in the Department of Physics. Crommie explores the local electronic, magnetic and mechanical properties of atomic and molecular structures at surfaces and is studying how local interactions between atomic-scale structures affect their microscopic behavior and how quantum mechanical effects might influence nanodevice behavior in very small structures. 

Alison Gopnik, a professor in the Department of Psychology. Gopnik’s research has focused on how children learn to understand their own minds and how, given limited evidence, they nevertheless make sense of the world around them. She was one of the first cognitive scientists to study “theory of mind” — how we come to understand our own minds and those of others — and is increasingly focused on AI, which has its roots in cognitive science.

Steven Kahn, the dean of mathematical and physical sciences and a professor of astronomy in the Department of Physics and the Department of Astronomy. Kahn, an experimental astrophysicist and cosmologist, is working on the commissioning of the active optics system of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, with particular emphasis on applying new machine learning and reinforcement learning techniques. His main interests lie in constraining the nature of dark energy through weak gravitational lensing and other statistical methods.

Daniel M. Kammen, a professor of energy in the Energy and Resources Group, the Goldman School of Public Policy and the Department of Nuclear Engineering. Kammen studies the design and implementation of renewable energy systems in both industrialized and developing nations and has served state and federal governments in several expert and advisory capacities.

Ravindran Kannan, a distinguished visiting scientist at the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing. Kannan’s research interests include algorithms, theoretical computer science and discrete mathematics, as well as optimization. His work has mainly focused on efficient algorithms for mathematical — often geometric — problems that arise in computer science.

Robert Ritchie, the H.T. & Jessie Chua Distinguished Professor of Engineering in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Ritchie studies the mechanical behavior of materials, particularly the microscopic mechanisms by which engineered and biological materials resist fracture and fatigue.

Richmond Sarpong, the executive associate dean and a professor of chemistry in the Department of Chemistry. Sarpong focuses on the synthesis of bioactive complex organic molecules with an interest in the development of new synthetic methods and strategies.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit institution that was established under congressional charter and signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It, along 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.