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Two IU professors elected to National Academy of Sciences
May 1, 2001
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Dr. Lawrence H. Einhorn, Distinguished Professor in the Indiana University School of Medicine, and Elinor Ostrom, Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Political Science and co-director of IU's Center for the Study of Institutions, Population and Environmental Change, were elected today (May 1) as members of the National Academy of Sciences at its annual meeting.
Membership in the National Academy of Sciences is considered one of the highest honors that can be accorded a U.S. scientist or academic. Einhorn and Ostrom join 10 other IU faculty as members of the prestigious organization. They were the only members elected this year from a university or college in Indiana.
Seventy-five new members and 15 foreign associates from 10 countries also were elected in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. In addition, one member was elected posthumously.
The National Academy of Sciences is a private organization of scientists established in 1863 by a congressional act of incorporation signed by Abraham Lincoln. NAS acts as an official adviser to the federal government in any matter of science or technology.
A medical oncologist, Einhorn has received international recognition for his role in the development of a chemotherapy regimen for disseminated testis cancer, the most common cancer in young men. His research led to a marked increase in the cure rate for what had previously been a devastating and rapidly fatal disease.
Testis cancer is not Einhorn's only area of expertise. He also is an internationally recognized authority on other types of urologic cancer, lung cancer and certain other tumors.
He has been recognized with several prestigious awards as a result of his work as a clinician researcher, including the Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Foundation Award for Cancer Research, presented in 1981 at the American Association of Cancer Research Meeting; the 1983 American Cancer Society Medal of Honor; the 1990 Karnofsky Lectureship of the American Society of Clinical Oncology; and the 1992 Kettering Prize for Cancer Research, awarded by the General Motors Foundation.
Einhorn was awarded the title of distinguished professor at IU in 1987. He joined the IU School of Medicine faculty in 1973. A native of Dayton, Ohio, he received a B.A. degree from IU and an M.D. degree from the University of Iowa. He completed his internship and residency at the IU School of Medicine and did hematology/oncology fellowships at the IU School of Medicine and the M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute in Houston, Texas.
Ostrom, who received her Ph.D. degree in political science from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1965, came to IU a year later. She served as chair of the Department of Political Science in 1980-84, and she has been co-director of the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis since 1973. She also has a part-time faculty appointment in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
Ostrom was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1991. She is past president of the American Political Science Association and has led the Public Choice Society, the Midwest Political Science Association and the International Association for the Study of Common Property.
Ostrom has served on numerous advisory boards including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, National Academy of Public Administration; National Advisory Committee on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals, National Sheriffs' Association, National Science Foundation and Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research Council.
She has served as a member of editorial boards for the American Journal of Political Science, American Political Science Review, Criminal Justice Review, Public Productivity Review, Publius, Quarterly Journal of Administration, Sage Urban Affairs Annual Review, Social Science Quarterly and Urban Affairs Quarterly.
In 1999, Ostrom became the first woman to receive the John Skytte Prize of Sweden's Uppsala University. It is one of the largest international scholarly awards in the social sciences.
Additional information about NAS is available on the Web at http://national-academies.org
(George Vlahakis, IU Bloomington, 812-855-0846, gvlahaki@indiana.edu or Mary Hardin, IU School of Medicine, 317-274-7722, mhardin@iupui.edu)