UC Santa Barbara professor of chemistry and of materials Galen Stucky was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for his excellence in original scientific research. Membership in the NAS is one of the highest honors given to a scientist or engineer in the United States. Stucky will be inducted into the academy next April during its 151st annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
Stucky, elected along with 71 others, brings to 38 the number of UCSB faculty elected to NAS. There are currently 2,179 active NAS members.
Among the more renowned members are Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer, Thomas Edison, Orville Wright, and Alexander Graham Bell. Nearly 200 living academy members have won Nobel Prizes.
"Our UC Santa Barbara community warmly congratulates Professor Galen Stucky on his election to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences," said Chancellor Henry T. Yang. "This milestone achievement is a meaningful recognition of Professor Stucky's pioneering contributions, which have not only advanced the frontiers of research in materials, inorganic chemistry, and other fields, but also saved lives and made our world a better place. We are proud and delighted that our distinguished colleague has received this tremendous honor."
"Galen Stucky was elected to the National Academy because he is one of the most accomplished chemists in the country and because he works on problems with the potential to transform people's lives. His research ranges from blood-clotting gauze to innovative energy storage systems for cars," said UCSB Vice Chancellor for Research Michael Witherell.
Stucky's current research interests include molecular assembly of nanoscale to macroscale components of composite systems; the interface of inorganics with biomolecules; chemistry associated with the efficient utilization of energy resources; and understanding Nature's routes to organic/inorganic bioassembly. Among his accomplishments is the development of an inorganic material in current use that not only stanches arterial blood flow but also fights infection. He received a top military science award for this contribution in 2008.
"My election to membership of the National Academy of Sciences would not have happened without the enabling UCSB administrative and colleague support that I have received and the positive, interdisciplinary culture that exists on this campus. I am particularly grateful to Tom Bruice, Alan Heeger, and Ralph Pearson for their nomination," said Stucky.
Stucky joined the UCSB faculty in 1985, serving as a professor in the Departments of Chemistry & Biochemistry, and in Materials. He is also a member of the Biomolecular Science and Engineering Program He was appointed the E. Khashoggi Industries, LLC Professor in Letters and Science in 2006. Stucky obtained his Ph.D. degree in Physical Chemistry from R.E. Rundle at Iowa State University in 1962.
Stucky, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science since 1994, is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Humboldt Research Prize in 2000; the American Chemical Society Award in Chemistry of Materials in 2002; the International Mesostructured Materials Association Award in 2004; and fellowship in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2005. He is also an honorary professor of Fudan University in Shanghai and a visiting professor at Peking University in Beijing.
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit honorific society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furthering of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Established in 1863, the National Academy of Sciences has served to "investigate, examine, experiment, and report upon any subject of science or art," whenever called upon to do so by any department of the government.
For more information, or for the full list of newly elected members, visit www.nationalacademies.org.
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