April 29, 2008
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) – Two prominent UC Santa Barbara professors have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, as has a leading stem cell researcher who is an adjunct professor at UCSB. They are among a total of 72 new members elected to the prestigious academy today in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
The National Academy of Sciences is the country's most prestigious scientific organization, and election to membership in the academy is considered one of the highest honors that can be accorded a U.S. scientist or engineer. Those elected today bring the total number of active members to just over 2,000. The new members will be inducted into the academy next April at the group's annual meeting in Washington.
About William Murdoch
William Murdoch is the Charles A Storke II Professor of Ecology in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology at UC Santa Barbara, where he served four years as department chair. A native of Scotland, William Murdoch came to UCSB in 1965 after earning a Ph.D. in zoology at the University of Oxford in Britain and completing a post-doctorate assignment at the University of Michigan. In addition to his professorial duties at UCSB, Murdoch proposed establishment of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis at UCSB and served as the center's first director. He currently is the director of the UCSB Natural Reserve System.
In addition to a Guggenheim Fellowship, his many honors and special distinctions include the President's Award, given by the American Society of Naturalists; the MacArthur Award, given by the Ecological Society of America; and the Huffaker Medal in Population Ecology, given by UC Berkeley. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2002.
Away from campus, he has served on many scientific advisory committees, as well as on the Marine Review Committee of the California Coastal Commission and the board of governors of The Nature Conservancy.