Two University of Chicago scholars have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, joining other scientists and researchers chosen in “recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.”
Profs. Giulia Galli and Susan Goldin-Meadow are among the 120 new members elected this year. Also included in the National Academy of Sciences’ April 27 announcement was the addition of 26 international non-voting members.
Giulia Galli is the Liew Family Professor of Molecular Engineering and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Chicago and senior scientist at UChicago-affiliated Argonne National Laboratory. She is a condensed matter physicist recognized for her contributions to the fields of computational condensed matter, materials science, and nanoscience, most notably first-principles simulations of materials and liquids, particularly materials for energy, properties of water, and excited state phenomena.
She is also the director of the Midwest Integrated Center for Computational Materials.
Susan Goldin-Meadow is the Beardsley Ruml Distinguished Service Professor in the Departments of Psychology and Comparative Human Development. A pioneer in the fields of gesture and sign language, her research has explored how non-verbal communication can provide a unique window onto human cognition—leading to breakthroughs in scientific understanding of language creation and acquisition.
Her recent work has focused on sign language creators in Nicaragua, including homesigners, who create their language without input from a language model. That research found that all of the groups distinguished between symmetry and reciprocity, suggesting that the concepts are fundamental to language.
She is the founding editor of the journal Language Learning and Development.
—Prof. Chuan He
