Nine researchers affiliated with the University of California and with one of the national laboratories UC manages have been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences, considered one of the highest honors that can be accorded a scientist or engineer.

The researchers are among 60 new members and 15 foreign associates elected to the NAS in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements. The new members were chosen during the academy's 137th annual meeting Tuesday (May 2) in Washington, D.C.

With this week's election, the University of California and the three national laboratories it manages for the U.S. Department of Energy have 309 members of the National Academy of Sciences, more than any other college or university in the United States.

The new NAS members are:

• Jean M.J. Frechet, professor, department of chemistry, UC Berkeley, and senior scientist, Ernest O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley;
  
  
• William A. Jury, professor of soil physics, department of soil and environmental sciences, UC Riverside;
  
  
• James P. Kennett, professor, department of geological sciences, UC Santa Barbara;
  
  
• Richard D. Kolodner, professor of medicine and head, laboratory of cancer genetics, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, School of Medicine, UC San Diego;
  
  
• Robert W. Mahley, professor of pathology and medicine, UC San Francisco, and director, Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, San Francisco;
  
  
• Barbara J. Meyer, professor of genetics and development, department of molecular and cell biology, UC Berkeley, and investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute;
  
  
• David R. Nygren, Distinguished Scientist, Ernest O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley;
  
  
• Kenneth A. Ribet, professor of mathematics, UC Berkeley; and
  
  
• Tim D. White, Distinguished Professor of Human Evolution Studies, department of integrative biology, UC Berkeley, and research associate, Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
  

Nine other California researchers were also chosen to become members of the academy in this week's election.

A private organization of scientists and engineers, the National Academy of Sciences is dedicated to the promotion of science and its use for the benefit of humankind. It was established in 1863 by a congressional act of incorporation, signed by President Abraham Lincoln, that designates the academy as the official adviser to the federal government, upon request, in matters of science and technology.

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