Colorado State University welcomes National Academy of Sciences member

Note to Reporters: A photo is available with the news release at news.colostate.edu.

Colorado State University has added another National Academy of Sciences member to its faculty.

A.R. Ravishankara, longtime director of the Chemical Sciences Division of the Earth System Research Laboratory of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder, has joined CSU’s chemistry and atmospheric science departments. Ravishankara is known for his research related to the understanding of ozone layer depletion, climate change, and air quality.

He has been involved in laboratory studies of key reactions that play critical roles in climate change and air quality; field measurements of chemicals, such as nitrogen oxides and aerosols; and calculations to understand and predict atmospheric changes.

His research led to his nomination and subsequent election in 2000 as a member of the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors a scientist can receive. Researchers must be nominated by an existing academy member and are carefully vetted before their names are placed on a ballot and voted on at the organization’s annual meeting.

Fewer than 100 members are elected each year from all fields of science. Approximately 2,200 U.S. scientists and 400 foreign researchers are members of the National Academy of Sciences. Of those members, approximately 200 are Nobel Prize winners.

“We are very lucky to have someone of Ravi’s research caliber join our faculty,” said Jan Nerger, dean of CSU’s College of Natural Sciences. “He is known as a leader in his field and in the scientific community. He will be a great asset to our University.”

Ravishankara is CSU’s fourth National Academy of Sciences member.

The others are: Barry Beaty, professor of microbiology, immunology, and pathology and a University Distinguished Professor; Marshall Fixman, professor of chemistry and a University Distinguished Professor Emeritus; and George Seidel Jr., professor of biomedical sciences and a University Distinguished Professor Emeritus.
 

-30-