Duke biology professor Fred Nijhout has been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences.
Nijhout, the John Franklin Crowell Distinguished Professor of Biology, has been a member of the Duke faculty since 1977. His scholarship focuses on developmental physiology and understanding how complex traits arise through, and are affected by, the interaction of genetic and environmental factors.
Much of his research has focused on how butterflies and other insects develop from a larva to a winged adult 鈥 how a maggot transforms into a fly, or a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. Read about his work analyzing the microscopic structures on the wings of 10 species of butterflies on Duke Today.
鈥淐ongratulations to Dr. Fred Nijhout on this well-deserved honor,鈥 said Provost Alec D. Gallimore. 鈥淓lection to the National Academies is reserved for scholars of the highest caliber, and Dr. Nijhout, with his impressive array of accomplishments in research and interdisciplinary collaboration, is no exception.鈥
Nijhout was also elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2018 and the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1989. His awards include the international Kowalevsky Medal in 2016.
He鈥檚 the seventh member of Duke鈥檚 biology department to win election to the National Academy.
This year鈥檚 election brings the total number of active members in the academy to 2,662 and the total number of international members to 556.
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit institution that was established under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It recognizes achievement in science by election to membership, and 鈥 with the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine 鈥 provides science, engineering and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations.
