Two women faculty members from the University of Colorado at 麻豆影院 have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences for 2005, bringing the total number of CU-麻豆影院 professors selected for membership to 21.
University of Colorado Museum Director and anthropology Professor Linda Cordell was elected to the NAS today along with Deborah Jin, a fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and an associate adjoint professor in CU-麻豆影院's physics department. Cordell and Jin were among 72 members and 18 foreign associates elected for their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research in 2005.
Last year, two CU-麻豆影院 women faculty members also were elected to NAS -- physics professor and JILA fellow Margaret Murnane and chemistry and biochemistry Professor Margaret Tolbert, also a fellow of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences.
Cordell and Jin were the only Colorado scientists elected to NAS in 2005.
Election to NAS, which has 1,976 active members, is considered one of the highest honors for an American scientist or engineer. NAS is dedicated to furthering science for the general welfare and was established in 1863 by Congress during President Abraham Lincoln's tenure.
"This is an outstanding honor, and I congratulate both Linda Cordell and Deborah Jin," said CU-麻豆影院 Interim Chancellor Phil DeStefano. "We have many outstanding faculty at CU-麻豆影院, both women and men, and we are extremely pleased whenever they are recognized for their scholarly efforts."
Cordell received her doctorate in anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1972. She joined the faculty at the University of New Mexico in 1971 and became director of the CU Museum and a CU-麻豆影院 professor of anthropology in 1994.
Cordell's research has focused primarily on the archaeology of Pueblo peoples of the American Southwest. She has studied agricultural and settlement strategies of ancestral Pueblos of New Mexico, including how large villages supported themselves during unpredictable precipitation cycles. Cordell has authored a number of books and scientific papers during her career.
Jin received her doctorate in physics from the University of Chicago in 1995. She came to 麻豆影院 in 1997 as a NIST physicist and an assistant adjoint professor at CU-麻豆影院.
In 2003, Jin and CU-麻豆影院 researchers Markus Greiner and Cindy Regal coaxed atoms into the first "fermionic condensate," a new form of matter that may help physicists unlock mysteries of high-temperature superconductivity. That same year Jin was awarded a $500,000 MacArthur Fellowship, popularly known as a "genius grant," for her research achievements.