Six University of Michigan professors are among 120 new members inducted into the National Academy of Sciences for distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
Twenty-four international members also were recognized.
The U-M inductees are:
- Kent Berridge, the James Olds Distinguished University Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and professor of psychology in LSA. Berridge has a research lab that seeks answers to questions about the brain, particularly regarding “wanting” and “liking.”
- Lee Hartmann, the Leo Goldberg Collegiate Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and professor emeritus of astronomy in LSA. Hartmann studies how vast cold clouds of gas and dust fragment and then collapse, forming stars and their surrounding disks. His research examines how planets form within these disks. Using models that link observation and theory, Hartmann looks at how variations in initial conditions and the physical processes that dominate a star’s evolution contribute to the variety of systems we observe — from binaries to planetary systems like our own.
- Jeffrey Lagarias, the Harold Mead Stark Distinguished University Professor of Mathematics and professor of mathematics in LSA, has contributed to number theory and theoretical computer science. At U-M, he has been active in the number theory group over the last few years, with additional contributions to many other fields.
- Vonnie McLoyd, the Ewart A.C. Thomas Collegiate Professor of Psychology, professor of psychology and professor emerita of AfroAmerican and African studies in LSA, researches the role of parental behavior and family relations as paths through which economic conditions such as poverty, parental job loss and parental work characteristics influence youth’s socioemotional adjustment. She also studies processes that protect youth from, or increase youth’s vulnerability to, the effects of experiences in peer and neighborhood contexts known to compromise socioemotional adjustment.
- Jonathan Overpeck, the Samuel A. Graham Dean of the School for Environment and Sustainability, and the William B. Stapp Collegiate Professor of Environmental Education and professor of environment and sustainability in SEAS; and professor of climate and space sciences and engineering in the College of Engineering, is an expert on climate change, climate-vegetation interactions, Earth history, environmental science, and sustainability.
- Henry Wellman, the Harold W. Stevenson Collegiate Professor Emeritus of Psychology and professor emeritus of psychology in LSA, has research interests that focus on children’s acquisition of foundational knowledge — early acquired understandings that shape and frame later cognitive developments — studied via naturalistic and laboratory studies with infants and young children.
Those elected bring the total number of active NAS members to 2,617 and the total number of international members to 537. International members are non-voting members of the academy, with citizenship outside the United States.
NAS is a private, nonprofit institution established under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863.
It recognizes achievement in science by election to membership and, 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.
