President Suresh Inducted Into 3rd National Academy
President Subra Suresh
Carnegie Mellon University President Subra Suresh was inducted into the Institute of Medicine (IOM) on Sunday, Oct. 19 in Washington D.C., making him the only university president to be elected to all three national academies.
Election to a National Academy is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to engineers, scientists and medical and health professionals. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to their fields.
As one of only 16 living Americans to be elected to all three national academies (IOM, the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering), Suresh's work reflects CMU's interdisciplinary nature and collaborative spirit. The university is known for bringing together faculty, students and staff from its various colleges and schools to solve real-world problems, in areas ranging from energy and the environment to cybersecurity and education. The IOM is recognizing Suresh for advancing health and medicine through his research into cell mechanics related to malaria, blood diseases and certain types of cancer.
Suresh is the first faculty member from Carnegie Mellon to be elected to all three academies and the fourth CMU faculty member to be named to the IOM. Additional IoM members include:
- (2004) Sheldon Cohen, the Robert E. Doherty Professor of Psychology;
- (1993) Baruch Fischhoff, the Howard Heinz University Professor in the departments of Social and Decision Sciences and of Engineering and Public Policy; and
- (1983) the late Lester Lave, the Harry B. and James H. Higgins Professor of Economics at the Tepper School of Business.
Before becoming president of CMU in 2013, he served as director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), a $7-billion independent government science agency charged with advancing all fields of fundamental science, engineering research and education.
In addition to the three U.S. National Academies, Suresh has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences, Spanish Royal Academy of Engineering, German National Academy of Sciences, Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, Academy of Sciences of the Developing World, Indian National Academy of Engineering, Indian National Science Academy and Indian Academy of Sciences. He has been elected a fellow or honorary member of all the major materials research societies in the United States and India.
The national academies are honorific, private, nonprofit institutions that provide expert advice on some of the most pressing challenges facing the nation and the world, helping to shape policies, inform public opinion, and advance the pursuit of science, engineering and medicine.
Related Links: The National Academies | Institute of Medicine | Meet the President: Dr. Subra Suresh