WCAAR Member Elected to the National Adademy of Sciences
Center Newsletter Volume 7 Isuse 1 Spring 2008

Regarded as one of the greatest distinctions a scientist can receive, three investigators from The University of Texas at Austin were elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) on April 29, 2008, including Waggoner Center member Dr. Richard W. Aldrich, the Karl Folkers Chair in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research II and Professor and Chair, Section of Neurobiology, College of Natural Sciences. Joining Dr. Aldrich as newly elected Academy members are Dr. Wilson S. Geisler III, the David Wechsler Regents Chair in Psychology, College of Liberal Arts, and Dr. David M. Hillis, the Alfred W. Roark Centennial Professor in Natural Sciences and Director, Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics. NAS elected 72 members and 18 foreign associates this year, bringing the total number of members to 2,041 and associates to 397. UT Austin now counts 13 Academy members on campus. A reception honoring Drs. Aldrich, Geisler, and Hillis was held April 30, 2008, and hosted by the Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Dr. Alan Lambowitz, Director.

Dr. Aldrich, an ion channel biophysicist, studies the structure and function of proteins involved in inter- and intracellular communication. In a statement supporting Dr. Aldrich’s election, the Academy noted that he “pioneered the study of physical mechanisms that determine whether ion channels are open or closed. He demonstrated a ‘ball and chain’ mechanism for shutting off potassium channels, and delineated how depolarization and calcium operate jointly to open calcium-activated potassium channels, thus illuminating both channel inactivation and activation.” His lab developed a quantitative model of this process that is applicable to the study of other proteins.
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