On September 10, two of Oregon State’s most respected scientists, who have also been married to one another since 1971, were made members of two of the world’s oldest and most prestigious scientific bodies.
Bruce Menge, OSU Distinguished University Professor of Integrative Biology and the Wayne and Gladys Valley Chair of Marine Biology, joined the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge, Massachusetts, while his wife, Distinguished Professor Jane Lubchenco, was inducted by Pope Francis into the Pontifical Academy of Sciences at the Vatican.
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences was founded in 1780 by 62 Americans including John Adams and John Hancock. The Pontifical Academy of Sciences was founded in 1603 under the name Academy of the Lynxes, a reference to the lynx’s keen eyesight; it was the first group in the history of the world to be devoted entirely to science.
Dr. Menge
Menge was invited to join the American Academy in 2020, but his formal induction was delayed because of the pandemic.
The Academy is quoted as saying that Menge “pioneered long-term studies within individual sites, and extended those studies to regional and global biogeographical scales. He has been truly integrative in his reach, explicating the roles of predation, competition and disturbance as structuring forces.”
Menge’s research has mainly focused on coastal ecosystems over a career spanning four decades. His most recent work has revealed previously undetected damage to coastal areas by human-caused climate change.
Dr. Lubchenco
Lubchenco is the Wayne and Gladys Valley Professor of Marine Biology at OSU. Previously, she was President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Ecological Society of America, and the International Council for Science. She has also served as Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and was the U.S. State Department’s first-ever U.S. Science Envoy for the Ocean.
Since 2021, Lubchenco has lived in Washington, DC, serving as Deputy Director of Climate and Environment in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, but also continues to work alongside her husband at the Menge Lubchenco Laboratory.
In joining the Pontifical Academy, Lubchenco joins a very select group, since membership is limited to just 80 persons, who are chosen based on their scientific achievements and moral character – being a Catholic is not a requirement.
By John M. Burt
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