Four University of Michigan professors are among the most recent inductees into the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest distinctions for a scientist or engineer in the United States.
Joel Blum 
Arul Chinnaiyan 
Robert Griess 
Janet Smith
The academy announced April 27 the election of 120 members and 26 international members in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
U-M’s newly elected NAS members are:
- Joel Blum, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Gerald J. Keeler Distinguished University Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, John D. MacArthur Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, and professor of earth and environmental sciences, and of chemistry, LSA.
- Arul Chinnaiyan, investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, S.P. Hicks Endowed Professor of Pathology, American Cancer Society Research Professor, professor of pathology, and of urology, and director of the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology, Medical School.
- Robert L. Griess, John Griggs Thompson Distinguished University Professor of Mathematics, and professor of mathematics, LSA.
- Janet L. Smith, Margaret J. Hunter Collegiate Professor in the Life Sciences, professor of biological chemistry, Medical School; research professor and associate professor, Life Sciences Institute; professor of biophysics, LSA.
The newly elected NAS members bring the total number of active members to 2,403 and the total number of international members to 501. International members are nonvoting members of the academy with citizenship outside the United States.
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit institution that was 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.
