UH astronomer elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences and National Academy of Sciences

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Karen Rehbock, (808) 956-6829
UH Institute for Astronomy
Arlene Abiang, (808) 956-5637
External Affairs & University Relations
Posted: May 5, 2005


HONOLULU — David C. Jewitt, an astronomer with the Institute for Astronomy (IfA) at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, was recently elected to two prominent academies — the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences.

Jewitt is one of 213 new fellows to be named to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The academy is composed of the world‘s leading scientists, scholars, artists, business people and public leaders. Among this year‘s newly elected members are Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page; Nobel prize-winning physicist Eric Cornell; Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist; and journalist Tom Brokaw.

Jewitt is also one of 72 new members chosen from across the United States to the National Academy of Sciences. Election to membership in the Academy is considered one of the highest honors that can be accorded a U.S. scientist or engineer.

"We congratulate Dr. Jewitt for this extraordinary recognition of his contributions to science and academia," said Mānoa Chancellor Peter Englert. "This speaks to the excellence of our growing research enterprise and the top caliber faculty from whose expertise we all benefit."

Jewitt received his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 1983 and joined the UH Institute for Astronomy in 1988. In 1992, he and postdoctoral fellow Jane Luu, opened a new window in the Solar System with their discovery of the then-hypothetical "Kuiper Belt." This vast region of space, lying beyond the orbit of Neptune, is now known to be filled with at least 10 million comet-like objects left over from the formation of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago.

Jewitt has received several other honors, including the UH Regents‘ Medal for Excellence in Research (1994), the 1996 Scientist of the Year award from the Honolulu chapter of Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS), and the Exceptional Scientific Achievement Award from NASA (1996).

"I am extremely pleased to see that the outstanding work done at our institute is now really recognized and appreciated by our high level peer institutions," said Rolf-Peter Kudritzki, IfA director. "I look forward to the great scientific perspectives of the future at this first class institution."

For more information about Jewitt, visit www.ifa.hawaii.edu/faculty/jewitt/. For more information about the UH Institute for Astronomy, visit www.ifa.hawaii.edu.

About the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an international honorary society comprised of 4,600 elected members. The Academy has a dual function to elect to membership men and women of exceptional achievement, drawn from science, scholarship, business, public affairs, and the arts, and to conduct a varied program of projects and studies responsive to the needs and problems of society.

About the National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a private organization comprised of 1,976 scientists and engineers who are dedicated to the furtherance of science and its use for the general welfare. It was established in 1863 by a congressional act of incorporation signed by Abraham Lincoln that calls on the Academy to act as an official adviser to the federal government, upon request, in any matter of science or technology.

For more information, visit: http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu