Seven on faculty elected to academies

Six University faculty members--Stuart Altmann, Bernard Cohn, Cornell Fleischer, William Fulton, Kevin Murphy and Susanne Rudolph--have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, while Sherwin Rosen has been named to the National Academy of Sciences.

An expert on behavioral ecology, Altmann, Professor Emeritus in Ecology & Evolution, studies primate behavior, such as social communication, the evolution of mating systems and the energetics of behavior. Most of his studies have been of baboons in the Ambosei National Park in Kenya. His current research focuses on how baboons adapt their foraging patterns in relation to an ever-changing environment.

Cohn, Professor Emeritus in Anthropology, is an expert on India. His work examines the impact colonialism had on India and how aspects of Indian culture, such as the caste system, were in some ways an adaptation to colonial rule by the British.

An expert on the Ottoman Empire, Fleischer has written extensively on subjects related to the history of Islamic lands in the early modern era. Fleischer is the Kanuni Süleyman Professor in History and Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations and Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies.

Fulton, the Charles L. Hutchinson Distinguished Service Professor in Mathematics, focuses his research on algebraic geometry and related fields. A fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, he was a recipient of Sweden's prestigious Erlander Professorship in 1996-97.

Murphy, the George Pratt Schultz Professor in the Graduate School of Business, has made major contributions to the study of income inequality, the analysis of economic growth, and the economic theory of addiction and industrial organization. In 1997, he was awarded the John Bates Clark Medal of the American Economic Association.

Rudolph, the William Benton Distinguished Service Professor in Political Science, studies political economy and cultural politics in India and Pakistan as well as other developing countries. She and Lloyd I. Rudolph, Professor in Political Science, are currently collaborating on comparisons between nation states and pluralist states.

The new fellows are among 146 elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences this year. Founded in 1780 by John Adams and other leaders of the young American republic, the academy includes more than 4,000 fellows and foreign honorary members from a broad range of geographic, professional and cultural backgrounds. Among its fellows are 160 Nobel laureates and 65 Pulitzer Prize winners.

Rosen, the Edwin A. and Betty L. Bergman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics, is a microeconomist with special interests in labor economics and industrial organization. His research includes theoretical and empirical work on the distribution of personal income.

Rosen is among 60 new members of the National Academy of Sciences. Election to membership in the academy, which recognizes "distinguished and continuing achievements in original research," is considered one of the highest honors that can be accorded a U.S. scientist.