19 Kavli Frontiers of Science Alumni Elected to NAS Membership

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) announced today that 19 Kavli Frontiers of Science alumni have been elected to membership in the NAS in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

In 2025, the NAS elected a total of 120 members and 30 international members covering all fields of science, bringing its total membership to 2,662 active members and 556 international members. The Frontiers alumni elected today bring the total number of Kavli Frontiers of Science alumni to 364 members – 11.3% of the NAS membership.

Newly elected Frontiers alumni and their affiliations at the time of election to the National Academy of Sciences are:

Chang, Edward F.; professor, neurological surgery, Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco

Collins, Kathleen; professor and Walter and Ruth Schubert Family Chair, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley

Devlin, Mark J.; Reese W. Flower Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

Ellman, Jonathan A.; Eugene Higgins Professor of Chemistry and professor of pharmacology, Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.

Fairhall, Adrienne L.; professor of physiology and biophysics, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, and adjunct professor of applied mathematics, Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Washington, Seattle

Impagliazzo, Russell; professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, San Diego

Maynard, Heather D.; Dr. Myung Ki Hong Professor in Polymer Science, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles

Murray, Norman; professor of astrophysics, Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

Nestler, Eric J.; Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience and director of the Friedman Brain Institute, Department of Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City

Sarpong, Richmond; professor of chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley

Shapiro, Beth; investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; and professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz

Shen, Kang; investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; and professor, Department of Biology and Department of Pathology, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.

Wechsler, Risa H.; professor of physics and particle physics and astrophysics, Department of Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.

Weiss, Benjamin P.; Robert R. Schrock Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

Winzeler, Elizabeth A.; professor, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego,

Zanni, Martin T.; V.W. Meloche-Bascom Professor of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Newly elected international members, their affiliations at the time of election, and their country of citizenship are:

Baudis, Laura; full professor in experimental physics, Department of Physics , University of Zürich (Switzerland)

Spaldin, Nicola A.; full professor, Department of Materials, ETH Zürich, Switzerland (United Kingdom)

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—with the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine—provides science, engineering, and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations.