News
Tony Bebbington Elected to US National Academy of Science
Professor Anthony Bebbington, Associate Director at IDPM and Brooks World Poverty Institute, has become a member of the US equivalent to the Royal Society.
Professor Bebbington joined 72 newly elected members in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research, and will be affiliated with the Human Environmental Sciences section of the Academy as one of only a handful of geographers elected to the NAS.
The National Academy of Sciences is a private organization of scientists and engineers dedicated to furthering science and its use for the common good.
It was established in 1863 by a congressional act of incorporation 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.
Membership of the NAS is a rare honour, and Professor Bebbington joins Nobel Laureates Professor Joseph Stiglitz and Professor Robert Putnam as one of the very few Manchester scholars elected to the Academy.
Professor Bebbington said: "I am delighted at my election to the National Academy of Sciences, though I also recognize that as well as being an honour, membership entails responsibility. Speaking to the Academy recently, President Barack Obama pledged that 'the days of science taking a back seat to ideology are over'. One can only hope that the spirit of this comment becomes reality - but it does make this a potentially exciting moment to be joining the Academy".
28 April 2009