Five Duke Faculty Elected to National Academy of Sciences

Five Duke faculty have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. The NAS elected a total of 120 new members and 24 new international members. 

The new NAS members from Duke are:

John Aldrich, PhD, Pfizer Inc./Edmund T. Pratt Jr. University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Political Science. His scholarship focuses on American politics and elections.

David Beratan, PhD, R.J. Reynolds Professor of Chemistry, professor of biochemistry, and professor of physics. Beratan is developing theoretical approaches to understand the function of complex molecular and macromolecular systems. 

Richard Mooney, PhD, George Barth Geller Distinguished Professor for Research in Neurobiology and professor of cell biology. He studies songbirds to understand the neural mechanisms by which experience guides learning, behavior and perception. 

Tai-ping Sun, PhD, professor of biology. She uses the model plant Arabidopsis to examine the regulation of plant growth and development.

Jenny Tung, PhD, professor of evolutionary anthropology and biology and a member of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Tung is part of a long-term study of social determinants of health, using baboons in Kenya, and was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2019.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit institution that was established under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It recognizes achievement in science by election to membership, and — with the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine — provides science, engineering and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations.