Three MIT faculty members have been newly elected to the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
Election to membership in the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is considered one of the highest honors for a U.S. scientist or engineer. The 72 people elected this month bring the total number of active members to 1,976.
The NAS is a private organization of scientists and engineers dedicated to the furtherance of science and its use for the general welfare. Established in 1863, it acts as an official advisor to the federal government, on request, in any matter of science or technology.
The new NAS members from MIT are:
Nancy Kanwisher, a professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and investigator of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research. Her research focuses on the mechanisms of visual cognition in the human brain.
Butler Lampson, an adjunct professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and an engineer at Microsoft Corp. His research interests include computer architecture, local area networks, page description languages and operating systems.
David Page, a professor in the Department of Biology, is a member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His research involves fundamental studies of mammalian sex chromosomes, with special attention to the function, structure and evolution of the Y chromosome.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on May 11, 2005 (download PDF).
