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Two University of Virginia scientists have been elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a storied group founded during the Revolutionary War by John Adams, John Hancock, and 60 other scholar-patriots to advance the public good.

Edward H. Egelman, PhD, of UVA’s School of Medicine, and James N. Galloway, PhD, of the College of Arts and Sciences, are among the 252 inductees in this year’s class. The inductees are top leaders in academia, the arts, industry, journalism, philanthropy, policy, research and science. 

“We celebrate the achievement of each new member and the collective breadth and depth of their excellence — this is a fitting commemoration of the nation’s 250th anniversary,” Academy President Laurie Patton said. “The founding of the nation and the Academy are rooted in the inextricable links between a vibrant democracy, the free pursuit of knowledge and the expansion of the public good.”

Egelman is Harrison Distinguished Professor in UVA’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics. His work focuses on using cryo-electron microscopy and 3D modeling to map out the world that is far too small for even the most powerful light microscopes to see. His research has primarily targeted protein filaments and protein-DNA complexes. The scope of his work expanded dramatically after he developed techniques that now enable the routine determination of the atomic structure of helical structures common in nature, such as the hair-like pilli on the surface of pathogenic bacteria. He was previously elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors a scientist can receive, and is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Biophysical Society, the American Academy of Microbiology and the European Academy of Microbiology.

“This is truly a great honor for me,” Egelman said, “but it was only possible due to the students and postdoctoral fellows in my lab and my collaborators from around the world.”

Galloway is Sidman P. Poole Professor (Emeritus) in UVA’s Department of Environmental Sciences. Like Egelman, he too has been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences. He performed pioneering studies on acid rain in the 1970s and played a key role for more than 30 years in the study of acid rain’s effects on native brook — Virginia’s only native trout species — and on southern Appalachia. He has most recently focused on maximizing the use of nitrogen for beneficial purposes, such as food production, while minimizing its harmful effects on the environment. His efforts have made UVA a world leader among colleges and universities working to reduce their nitrogen footprint. 

“I am doubly pleased that this recognition by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences is not solely from a biogeochemical perspective, but also the human and social dimensions that are involved,” Galloway said. “This honor would not have happened without the support along the way that I have received from my family, my students, my colleagues and the University. For this, I am extremely grateful.”

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences was chartered in 1780 to recognize accomplished people and enlist them in addressing the greatest challenges facing the nascent republic. More than 14,500 members have been elected since, including such luminaries as Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Robert Frost, Margaret Mead, and Martin Luther King Jr.

One of the first members was George Washington, who told Congress in 1790: “Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness.”

A complete list of this year’s inductees is available on the Academy’s site.

To keep up with the latest medical research news from UVA School of Medicine and UVA’s new Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology, bookmark the Making of Medicine blog.