Knox grad Barbara Baird elected to AAAS

Barbara Baird, a graduate of Knox College and the Horace White Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Cornell University, has been inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS). The honor is given in recognition of cutting edge research and scholarship, artistic accomplishment and exemplary service to society.

A 1973 Knox College graduate, Baird heads a research group at Cornell that studies molecular mechanisms of cell surface receptors involved in the allergic immune response. She received her doctorate in chemistry from Cornell in 1979 and an Alumni Achievement Award from Knox in 1994. In the past decade alone, she and her colleagues in the Baird Holowka Research Group at Cornell have published more than 60 scientific papers. Her lab is also using nanotechnology to probe the immune system at the subcellular and molecular levels.

Other AAAS inductees this year included Nobel Prize winner Linda Buck; former Secretary of State George P. Shultz; former Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sam Nunn; astronomer Adam Riess, who contributed to the discovery of dark energy in the universe; and electrical engineer Henry Smith, the father of x-ray lithography.

In all, the AAAS inducted 190 new Fellows and 22 new Foreign Honorary Members this year, drawn from the top ranks in scholarship, business, the arts and public affairs, from 20 states and 15 countries. Foreign Honorary Members were elected from Europe, Asia, Canada, and the Middle East, including former Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge G. Castañeda.

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. Current Academy research focuses on science, technology, and global security; social policy and American institutions; the humanities and culture; and education. The AAAS was founded in in 1780 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Its membership includes 4,600 elected Fellows.

"Throughout the history of the AAAS, Fellows of the Academy have been dedicated to advancing intellectual thought and constructive action in America and the world. We are confident that our newest group of Fellows will help us fulfill that mission in significant ways," said AAAS Chief Executive Officer Leslie Berlowitz.

Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 48 states and 42 nations. Knox's "Old Main" is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates. The Knox College Chemistry Program is accredited by the American Chemical Society.