Two UC San Diego Professors Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

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From left, Christopher K. Glass and Clifford P. Kubiak

Two UC San Diego faculty members have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies, which includes accomplished leaders from academe, business, public affairs, the humanities and the arts.

Christopher K. Glass, a professor of medicine and of cellular and molecular medicine, and Clifford P. Kubiak, a distinguished professor of chemistry and biochemistry, join the 2014 class of academy members, who also include winners of the Nobel Prize; the Wolf Prize; the Pulitzer Prize; National Medal of the Arts; MacArthur, Guggenheim, and Fulbright Fellowships; and Grammy, Emmy, Oscar and Tony Awards.

This year’s election of Glass and Kubiak brings UC San Diego’s current membership in the academy to 112. The two professors will be inducted into the academy at a ceremony on October 11, 2014, at the academy’s headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is one of our nation’s most prestigious honor societies, and we are proud to have two additional UC San Diego professors elected as members,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “The academy is composed of leaders, innovators and visionaries who are tackling some of the world’s most pressing challenges. I look forward to their future successes and achievements, which will ultimately benefit us all.”

Glass, who received his MD and PhD degrees from UC San Diego, joined the UC San Diego School of Medicine faculty in 1989. His laboratory investigates the mechanisms regulating the development and function of the macrophage, a cell that plays key roles in immunity and inflammatory diseases, and the roles of transcription factors (proteins) that bind DNA sequences at both gene-specific and genome-wide scales.

Kubiak, who also holds the Harold C. Urey Endowed Chair in Chemistry, received his bachelor’s degree from Brown University and his PhD from the University of Rochester. He was a postdoctoral fellow at MIT and later a professor of chemistry at Purdue University from 1982 to 1998, when he joined the faculty at UC San Diego. His research laboratory is focused on the catalysis of the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide and the photochemical “splitting” of carbon dioxide. It also conducts research on “ultrafast electron transfer dynamics,” which has improved the fundamental understanding of molecular scale electron transfer and could pave the way for the development of molecular electronic devices.

A full list of academy members, past and present, can be found here UC San Diego’s current members listed here.