Caltech Professor Elected to Academy

A Caltech professor was among those elected Tuesday to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences.

Newly elected was Amnon Yariv from Caltech.

Election to the academy is considered one of the highest honors in the American scientific community. Membership is awarded annually in recognition of distinguished and continuing achievement in original research.

Seventeen Californians were among the 60 American members and 15 foreign associates elected at the academy’s 128th annual meeting in Washington. Total academy membership is 1,626, with 277 foreign associates.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private organization of scientists and engineers dedicated to the furtherance of science and its use for the general welfare. The academy was established in 1863 by a congressional act of incorporation and signed by President Abraham Lincoln. It acts as an official adviser to the federal government.