Three UC Irvine Faculty Elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Dear colleagues,

I am pleased to share that three UC Irvine faculty have been elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. This year's election of nearly 250 new members recognizes their accomplishments and leadership in academia, the arts, industry, policy, research and science. New members are nominated and elected to the academy by current members. Below are the new members from UC Irvine:

• Rina Dechter, Distinguished Professor, Department of Computer Science
  Known for her research in automated reasoning within artificial intelligence. Professor Dechter is focused on the computational aspects of automated reasoning and knowledge representation, particularly in search, constraint processing and probabilistic reasoning. The primary objective of her research is to develop efficient methods by understanding and exploiting tractable reasoning tasks. Among many honors, Professor Dechter is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
• Catherine Lord, Professor Emerita, Department of Art
  An artist, writer, curator and scholar whose photography and writing explore feminist, queer, colonial and cultural themes through language and image. Much of her work intersects photography and the written word. Among many honors, she received the Harvard Art Medal, which recognized her art's exploration of the anxiety surrounding homosexuality and its promotion of lesbian visibility in contemporary art history. Professor Emerita Lord previously served as chair of the Department of Art in the Claire Trevor School of the Arts and as director of the University Art Gallery.
• Jennifer B.H. Martiny, Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
  As a co-director of the UC Irvine Center for Microbiome Science, Professor Martiny's research delves into the study of microbiomes, the collection of microorganisms that inhabit all ecosystems on Earth. Her primary focus is on understanding the mechanisms that govern microbial diversity and its significance for the overall function of ecosystems. Professor Martiny has conducted research on the impact of drought on the microbial diversity of soil. Among many achievements, Professor Martiny is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

This is yet another example of the notable contributions of UC Irvine's faculty, which now includes 41 members of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Please join me in congratulating these faculty members on this accomplishment.

Sincerely,

Hal Stern
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor
Distinguished Professor, Department of Statistics