NEW
BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Rutgers University scientists Eva Y. Andrei, Dennis V. Kent
and Alexander B. Zamolodchikov have
been elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of
the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies and a leading center for
independent policy research.

Andrei
is a professor II in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Kent is a
Board of Governors Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences
and Zamolodchikov is a Board of Governors Professor in the Department of
Physics and Astronomy. All are in the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences.

Eva Y. Andrei

Andrei
studies the electronic properties of graphene, a one-atom thick membrane of crystalline
carbon with extraordinary electronic properties that could one day be at the
heart of speedy and powerful electronic devices. In 2009, the journal Science cited her findings in its list
of the year’s 10 groundbreaking scientific achievements. She is a fellow of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Physical
Society. She holds the Medal of Physics from CEA, a French government research
organization. In 2010, she received the Rutgers Board of Trustees award
for Excellence in Research.

Dennis V. Kent

Kent
is an internationally recognized authority on Earth magnetism. His research
focuses on magnetic events such as polarity reversals preserved in rocks. He
also studies paleoclimatology and advocates the theory that a comet striking
the Earth 55 million years ago triggered the last great greenhouse-induced
episode of global warming. According to the ScienceWatch analysis service, Kent
is one of the world’s most highly cited earth scientists. He is a member of the
National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the Geological Society of America,
the American Geophysical Union and the American Association for the Advancement
of Science.

Alexander B. Zamolodchikov

Zamolodchikov
creates mathematical models that describe two major endeavors of modern physics:
condensed matter physics and string theory. The first explores the fundamental
properties of materials. The second aims to provide a unified understanding of
the basic forces and fundamental particles in nature, including gravity, electromagnetism
and forces responsible for the stability and decay of atomic nuclei. He has authored several
classic papers in mathematical physics, and has been awarded the Dannie
Heineman prize, the Onsager prize and the Dirac medal. He is a co-founder of Rutgers New High Energy Theory
Center, an internationally recognized group in the development and
exploration of string theory.

The three
Rutgers scientists are among 220 scholars, scientists, writers, artists, civic,
corporate and philanthropic leaders selected to join the academy this year.
Members contribute to academy studies of science and technology policy, global
security, social policy and American institutions, the humanities and
education.

“Election to the academy is both an honor for
extraordinary accomplishment and a call to serve,” said Academy President
Leslie C. Berlowitz. “We look forward to drawing on the knowledge and expertise
of these distinguished men and women to advance solutions to the pressing
policy challenges of the day.”

With
these three new appointments, 21 Rutgers faculty are members of the academy. The
new class will be inducted at a ceremony on Oct. 6 at the academy's
headquarters in Cambridge, Mass.

Since its
founding in 1780 by John Adams, James Bowdoin, John Hancock and other
scholar-patriots, the academy has elected leading “thinkers and doers” from
each generation, including George Washington and Benjamin Franklin in the 18th
century, Daniel Webster and Ralph Waldo Emerson in the 19th, and Albert
Einstein and Winston Churchill in the 20th. The current membership includes
more than 250 Nobel Laureates and more than 60 Pulitzer Prize winners.