National academy elects two

Two members of the faculty – geneticist John F. Doebley and physicist Willy Haeberli – were elected April 30 to the National Academy of Sciences.

Election to the academy is among the most coveted and prestigious honors in all of science.

Doebley, a professor of genetics, studies the genetic evolution of corn. He has been instrumental in identifying corn’s ancestor – teosinte, a weedy grass from Mexico – and now has identified five major gene regions that have enabled teosinte to evolve into one of world’s most important crops. Doebley, who received a doctorate in botany from UW–Madison in 1980, joined the faculty here in 1999.

Haeberli is the Ray Herb Distinguished Professor of Physics and the Steenbock Professor of Natural Sciences. A native of Switzerland, he is a world authority in the area of nuclear polarization, studies essential to the fundamental understanding of nuclear physics. He joined the UW–Madison faculty in 1956 and is well known for pioneering the use of polarized beams to gain new insight into nuclear interactions. Past awards received by Haeberli include the Bonner Prize in Nuclear Physics and the Alexander von Humboldt Award. In 1988, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Haeberli and Doebley join 46 other current or emeritus members of the UW–Madison faculty who have been honored with election to NAS. They were among 72 scientists elected this morning at the 139th annual meeting of the academy. There are currently 1,907 active members of NAS.

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. Established in 1863 by an act of Congress, NAS is charged with advising the federal government, upon request, in any matter of science or technology.