Scripps Research Institute Professor Gerald F. Joyce Elected to American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Scripps Research Institute Professor Gerald F. Joyce, MD, PhD, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

LA JOLLA, CA – April 17, 2012 – Scripps Research Institute Professor Gerald F. Joyce, MD, PhD, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

"Jerry is an outstanding scientist," said Scripps Research President and CEO Michael A. Marletta, PhD. "His contributions are truly remarkable and we are glad to count him as one of our own."

One of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences is also a leading center for independent policy research. Members contribute to academy publications and studies of science and technology policy, energy and global security, social policy and American institutions, the humanities and culture, 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.”

In addition to Joyce, the 203 fellows and 17 foreign honorary members inducted this year include Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and screenwriter Neil Simon, Melinda Gates of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, American film icons Clint Eastwood and Mel Brooks, composer Andre Previn, and Amazon founder Jeffrey Bezos.

After earning a B.A. from the University of Chicago, Joyce received both an M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego, in 1984. He joined the Scripps Research faculty in 1989, becoming a full professor and an investigator in the Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology at Scripps Research in 1996.

In addition to Joyce, 16 other members of the Scripps Research faculty are fellows of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

In the laboratory, Joyce and his group work to understand how Darwinian evolution at the molecular level helps to shape the living world. The team has developed methods for carrying out evolution in a test tube, with the goal of developing compounds with practical benefit.

Also a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), Joyce’s recent honors include the NAS Stanley Miller Award. For more information on Joyce and his work, see his Scripps Research faculty web page  and laboratory website.

The academy’s class of 2012 will be inducted at a ceremony on October 6 at the academy’s headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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