American Academy of Arts and Sciences

University of Utah geneticist Mario R. Capecchi and chemist Cynthia J. Burrows were elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences in April 2009.
The scientists were among 210 new fellows, including U of U anthropologist Kristen Hawkes, and 19 foreign honorary members elected to the academy, which calls itself “one of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies and a center for independent policy research.”
The new fellows from the University of Utah College of Science are:
• Capecchi, a distinguished professor and co-chair of human genetics, and a winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the development of gene targeting, in which genes in mice are “knocked out” to see what goes wrong and thus learn their normal function.
• Burrows, a distinguished professor of chemistry, studies damage to DNA – which caries the genetic blueprint in every living organism – and how such damage is caused by the oxidation of substances such as “free radicals” from environmental toxins and from metabolism in the body.

“These remarkable men and women have made singular contributions to their fields, and to the world,” says academy President Emilio Bizzi. “By electing them as members, the academy honors them and their work, and they, in turn, honor us.”
The academy was established in 1780 by some of the nation’s founders, including John Adams and John Hancock. Other members have included George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Daniel Webster, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Albert Einstein, and Winston Churchill. Current members include more than 250 Nobel laureates.
The academy undertakes studies of complex and emerging problems. Current projects focus on science, technology and global security; social policy and American institutions; the humanities and culture; and education.