Wolynes named to National Academy of Sciences Council

Rice University chemist Peter Wolynes has been elected to a three-year term as a member of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Council.

Peter Wolynes

Wolynes is the Bullard-Welch Foundation Professor of Science and a professor of chemistry and a senior scientist with the Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, based at Rice’s BioScience Research Collaborative. His research focuses on many-body phenomena in biology, chemistry and physics, particularly using the theory of energy landscapes to understand mechanisms of protein folding and of the formation of glass.

Wolynes is one of four named to the 12-member governing council. Their terms will begin July 1.

“It is a great honor to be elected by my colleagues in the academy,” Wolynes said. “The council oversees many of the important activities of the academy, and I look forward to helping in that effort in the next few years.”

The NAS, created by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, is one of four organizations that make up the National Academies, along with the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council. They are private, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology and health policy advice under a congressional charter.