Class
| • | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | [X] |
| | 1 | Name: | Dr. John Clarke | | | Institution: | University of California, Berkeley | | | Year Elected: | 2017 | | | Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 106. Physics | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Living
| | | Birth Date: | 1942 | | | | | | |
John Clarke has led in the understanding and the development of the SQUID (Superconducting Quantum Interference Device) and exploration of this high sensitivity device for fundamental studies and applications. He has explored and demonstrated how this device can be used for measurements with a sensitivity up to the quantum mechanical limit. His studies have addressed the sources of 1/f noise, the limits of quantum computing, and the applications of SQUIDs for geological exploration and medical imaging. Clarke has co-authored the "handbook" of SQUID applications for high sensitivity electromagnetic measurements in a wide variety of fields and is universally known for this work. | |
| 2 | Name: | Dr. Benedict H. Gross | | | Institution: | Harvard University | | | Year Elected: | 2017 | | | Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 104. Mathematics | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Living
| | | Birth Date: | 1950 | | | | | | |
Benedict Gross has contributed decisively to number theory, algebraic geometry, modular forms and group representations. Gross and Don Zagier solved the class number problem which had been formulated by APS member Karl Friedrich Gauss in 1798. This problem was to give an algorithm to list all discrete rings embedded in the complex numbers with a given class number. The class number is a measure of the failure of unique factorization in the ring. (The analogous problem for the real numbers was already solved by the ancient Greeks. There is only one discrete ring embedded in the real numbers, namely the integers. Euclid in 300 BC proved that unique factorization holds in the integers, hence its class number is 1, the minimum possible value.) The theorem of Gross and Zagier was one of the major achievements in number theory of the 20th century. Gross is an expert on analytic number theory, which exploits the striking relationships between analysis, in the sense of calculus, and arithmetic in the sense of counting. He has made many many diverse discoveries. Most recently, he has explored the role of exceptional Lie groups in number theory. His development of arithmetic invariant theory with Manjul Bhargava promises to generate a whole new field of future research. Together with Joe Harris, he developed a mathematics course for non-mathematicians at Harvard. This led to his popular book, The Magic of Numbers, co-authored with J. Harris, which provides a readable introduction to the patterns that emerge in number behavior and the often surprising applications of these patterns. | |
| 3 | Name: | Dr. Laura L. Kiessling | | | Institution: | University of Wisconsin-Madison; Massachusetts Institute of Technology | | | Year Elected: | 2017 | | | Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 102. Chemistry and Chemical Biochemistry | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Living
| | | Birth Date: | 1960 | | | | | | |
Laura Lee Kiessling has made significant contributions to define intercelluar communication in bacteria and eukaryotes. Her work has led in the elucidation of carbohydrate biochemistry where she shed light on the importance of carbohydrate-cell surface interactions and on the mechanisms of cellular synthesis of complex carbohydrates. Kiessling was an early pioneer in the application of ring-opening polymerization for the preparation of polymer-glycoside conjugates with precisely defined spacing and length. Her research group provided major insight into the mechanisms by which carbohydrate molecular recognition events control cellular signaling. Her main interest currently is in finding a human lectin that recognizes microbial glycans over human glycans. Kiessling has been a leader in the application of chemical synthesis to dissect important biological questions involving multivalent carbohydrate displays. | |
| 4 | Name: | Dr. Rebecca Richards-Kortum | | | Institution: | Rice University | | | Year Elected: | 2017 | | | Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 103. Engineering | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Living
| | | Birth Date: | 1964 | | | | | | |
Guided by the belief that all of the world’s people deserve access to health innovation, Professor Rebecca Richards-Kortum’s research and teaching focus on developing low-cost, high-performance technology for low-resource settings. She is known for providing vulnerable populations in the developing world access to life-saving health technology, focusing on diseases and conditions that cause high morbidity and mortality, such as cervical and oral cancer, premature birth, and malaria. Professor Richards-Kortum’s work in appropriate point-of-care screening technologies has earned her induction into the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, National Inventors Hall of Fame, and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
Rebecca is the Malcolm Gillis University Professor and a member of the Department of Bioengineering at Rice University. After receiving a B.S. in Physics and Mathematics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1985, she continued her graduate work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she received an MS in Physics in 1987 and a PhD in Medical Physics in 1990. She joined the faculty in Bioengineering at Rice University in 2005 and served as Chair of Bioengineering from 2005-2008 and 2012-2014.
Dr. Richards-Kortum’s research group is developing miniature imaging systems to enable better screening for oral, esophageal, and cervical cancer and their precursors at the point-of-care. She led development of a novel high resolution microendoscope capable of real-time, subcellular imaging of epithelial tissue. Her team developed low-cost (<$2500), robust hardware platforms, including a tablet- and cell-phone based system. Together with colleagues at Baylor College of Medicine and the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, she has carried out clinical trials involving more than 1,000 patients, which show that the device has promise to improve early diagnosis of esophageal, oral, and cervical precancer. In a prospective, multi-center clinical trial carried out in the US and China, high resolution microendoscopy improved specificity for esophageal precancer from 29% to 79%, without reducing sensitivity. Clinical trials of over 15,000 patients in China, Brazil, and El Salvador are now underway.
Her group has integrated advances in nanotechnology and microfabrication to develop novel, low-cost sensors to detect infectious diseases at the point-of-care, including HIV, cryptosporidium, malaria, and Tuberculosis. Her group developed a low-cost sensor to detect hemoglobin concentration; the device reduced per test cost by more than 100-fold (less than US$0.01 per test) compared to standard care. She led development of novel nucleic acid tests to enable diagnosis of HIV in infants in low-resource settings, introducing the first integrated paper and plastic device for isothermal amplification of DNA.
Together with Maria Oden, Dr. Richards-Kortum led development and dissemination of low-cost, robust technologies to improve neonatal survival in sub-Saharan Africa. Her team developed a $160 bubble CPAP device to treat premature infants with respiratory distress; the device delivers the same flow and pressure as systems used in the US, at 30-fold cost reduction. Clinical evaluation showed that the device improved survival rates from 24% to 65%, mirroring the impact of CPAP when it was introduced in the US. The device has been implemented at all government hospitals in Malawi, and introduced in Zambia, Tanzania, and South Africa. In 2014, CPAP was recognized by the UN as one of 10 innovations that can save the lives of women and children now. The team is now developing a comprehensive set of technologies to enable essential newborn care at district hospitals in Africa, with the goal to equip a district hospital serving a catchment area of 250,000 people for less than $10,000. In 2018 Dr. Richards-Kortum was named a U.S. science envoy by the State Department.
At Rice University, Dr. Richards-Kortum has established new educational programs in global health technologies. She founded the Beyond Traditional Borders (BTB) program in which undergraduate students from multiple backgrounds learn to think beyond geographic and disciplinary boundaries to solve challenges in global health. In 2012, Science awarded BTB the Prize for Inquiry Based Instruction. In addition, the National Academy of Engineering recognized BTB with the Real-World Education Prize for successfully integrating real world experiences into undergraduate curriculum. BTB has also been recognized by ASEE with the Chester Carlson Award (2007) and with the IEEE Educational Activities Board Vice-President Recognition Award (2008).
Rebecca is married and has three sons, Alexander, Maxwell and Zachary and three daughters, Katie, Elizabeth, and Margaret. | |
| 5 | Name: | Dr. Michael S. Turner | | | Institution: | University of Chicago | | | Year Elected: | 2017 | | | Class: | 1. Mathematical and Physical Sciences | | | Subdivision: | 106. Physics | | | Residency: | Resident | | | Living? : |
Living
| | | Birth Date: | 1949 | | | | | | |
Michael S. Turner is a theoretical astrophysicist and the Bruce V. & Diana M. Rauner Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago and Senior Strategic Advisor to the Kavli Foundation. He was Director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at Chicago, which he helped to establish, from 2010 to 2019 is a past-President of the American Physical Society, the 50,000 member organization of physicists. Previous positions include Scientist at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (from 1983 to 1997), assistant Director for the Mathematical and Physical Sciences of the National Science Foundation (2003 to 2006), Chief Scientist of Argonne National Laboratory (2006 to 2008), Chair of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics (1997 to 2003), and President (1989 to 1994) and Chairman of the Board (2009 to 2012) of the Aspen Center for Physics.
Turner was born in Los Angeles, CA, and attended public schools there; he received his B.S. from Caltech (1971), his M.S. (1973) and Ph.D. (1978) from Stanford (all in physics). He holds an honorary D.Sc. (2005) from Michigan State University and was awarded a Distinguished Alumnus Award from Caltech in 2006. Turner helped to pioneer the interdisciplinary field of particle astrophysics and cosmology, and with Edward Kolb initiated the Fermilab astrophysics program which today accounts for about 10% of the lab’s activities today. He led the National Academy study Quarks to the Cosmos that laid out the strategic vision for the field. Turner’s scholarly contributions include predicting cosmic acceleration and coining the term dark energy, showing how quantum fluctuations evolved into the seed perturbations for galaxies during cosmic inflation, and several key ideas that led to the cold dark matter theory of structure formation. His honors include Warner Prize of the American Astronomical Society, the Lilienfeld Prize of the American Physical Society (APS), the Klopsted Award of the American Association of Physics Teachers, the Heineman Prize (with Kolb) of the AAS and American Institute of Physics, the 2011 Darwin Lecture of the Royal Astronomical Society and 2013 Ryerson Lecture at the University of Chicago. Turner’s twenty-plus former Ph.D. students hold faculty positions at leading universities around the country (e.g., Chicago, Caltech and University of Michigan), at national laboratories (Fermilab, JPL, and Argonne) and on Wall Street.
Turner’s national service includes membership on more than 10 NRC Boards and Committees including the Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy (COSEPUP), the Senior Editorial Board of Science Magazine, Chairmanship of the
OECD Global Science Forum’s Astroparticle Physics International Forum, a member of the Board of Directors of the Fermi Research Alliance, member of the NASA Advisory Council, Secretary and Chair of Class I of the National Academy of Sciences, and the founding Chair of ScienceCounts, a 501©3 organization that promotes the awareness and support of science. | |
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