The new academy members from UCLA are James C. McWilliams, who is the university’s Louis B. Slichter Professor of Earth Sciences in the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, and in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences; and Gerald Schubert, professor of geophysics and planetary physics, and chair of the Department of Earth and Space Sciences.
Membership in the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors that can be accorded an American scientist or engineer, is based on election by the academy’s members. McWilliams and Schubert are among 72 new members elected to the academy.
“James McWilliams and Gerald Schubert are outstanding scientists, whose contributions to UCLA are enormous,” said Tony Chan, dean of physical sciences. “Their election to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences is richly deserved.”
McWilliams’ primary area of research is the fluid dynamics of the Earth’s oceans and atmosphere, particularly the bio-geochemical properties of winds and currents. Specifically, he studies climate dynamics, planetary boundary layers, the roles of coherent structures of turbulent flows in geophysical and astrophysical regimes, and coastal ocean modeling.
Schubert’s research addresses the physics of the Earth and the planets, their structures and evolution. He has conducted research on fundamental geophysical fluid dynamics, structure of planetary interiors, mantle convection in the Earth and planets, plate tectonics, chemistry of upper atmospheres, and planetary atmospheres, surfaces and interiors.
“This is a bit of a shock, and I am overwhelmed,” Schubert said, upon hearing of his election to the academy. “I am grateful that my colleagues think highly enough of my work to bestow this honor on me.”
Schubert, a UCLA faculty member for 36 years, has won numerous awards and honors for his scholarship. He was elected last year to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences — founded in 1780 by John Adams and other leaders of the young republic — in recognition of his outstanding scholarly achievements. Schubert won the American Geophysical Union’s Hess Medal for outstanding research on the planets and their evolution. He has made fundamental contributions to understanding planetary evolution and to elucidating the structure and dynamics of planetary atmospheres and interiors. He is co-author of the books “Geodynamics” and “Mantle Convection in the Earth and Planets.”
Schubert has taught undergraduate courses on earthquakes, the physics of the planets and atmospheric physics, as well as graduate courses.
McWilliams is also the recipient of numerous accolades for his scholarship, including his election last year as a fellow of the American Geophysical Union. Of his election to the National Academy of Sciences, he said, “This is very pleasing, and signals an acceptance of my labors for the last 30 years.”
In addition to teaching graduate students, McWilliams is currently teaching an undergraduate course on the circulation of the Santa Monica Bay.
“UCLA is a wonderful environment to teach and do research,” McWilliams said. Schubert agreed, saying, “UCLA is a stimulating university; I have benefited greatly by being here.”
The National Academy of Sciences was established in 1863 by an act of Congress, signed by Abraham Lincoln, that calls on the academy to act as an official adviser to the federal government, upon request, in any matter of science or technology. The academy is a private organization of scientists and engineers “dedicated to the furtherance of science and its use for the general welfare.”
Online resources:
- James C. McWilliams: www.atmos.ucla.edu/~jcm/index.htm
- Gerald Schubert: www.ess.ucla.edu/faculty/schubert/index.html
- National Academy of Sciences: www4.nationalacademies.org/nas/nashome.nsf