Chemical Engineer Elected to National Academy of Sciences

Jacb Israelachvili, a professor of chemical engineering and materials at UCSB, has been elected to the nation's most prestigious scientific organization, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).

Of his election, Israelachvili said, "I am very honored. I wasn't expecting it. It's wonderful to be recognized like this, by one's peers, especially out of the blue."

Israelachvili's research interests are in the general area of intermolecular and intersurface forces in complex fluid systems. He is involved in the new California NanoSystems Institute, a research partnership between UCSB and UCLA.

His election brings to 23 the number of current UCSB faculty members who have been elected to the NAS. This year, NAS named 72 new members and 18 foreign associates in recognition of distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

Said Chancellor Henry T. Yang: "We at UCSB are very excited and proud about this wonderful news. Being elected to the National Academy is a prized distinction, one that reflects the very highest regard of one's peers in the scientific community. We congratulate our colleague Jacob Israelachvili and salute his scientific achievement."

Matthew Tirrell, dean of the College of Engineering, said of the news, "I believe that this is recognition that Jacob Israelachvili richly deserves."

A UCSB faculty member since 1986, Israelachvili received his bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. degrees in physics from the University of Cambridge, England.