EAST LANSING, Mich. - Two Michigan State University professors have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS), one of the nation's most prestigious and selective learned societies.
David W. Rohde, University Distinguished Professor of political science, has taught at MSU since 1970. An expert in American politics, he has written extensively on congressional decision making, legislative organization and elections. He also directs the university's Political Institutions and Public Choice Program, a unique research-training experience for doctoral students in the Department of Political Science.
Anatoli V. Skorokhod, professor of statistics and probability, is a member of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences and former head of the department of stochastic processes at the Institute of Mathematics at the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. A graduate of the Institute of Mathematics in Kiev, his research centers on the theory of stochastic process - which is generally defined as the "dynamic" part of probability theory in which randomly changing in time systems are studied - and the variations of complex dynamical systems.
The AAAS recognizes outstanding achievement in the full range of academic disciplines, including mathematics, the physical and biological sciences, medicine, the social sciences and humanities, business, government, public affairs and the arts. Its membership includes 3,600 fellows and 600 honorary members from countries around the world.
Rohde and Skorokhod are the third and fourth MSU faculty members to be elected to the AAAS. James L. Dye (chemistry) was elected in 1990 and Richard E. Lenski (evolutionary and population biology) was elected in 1998.
"Professors Rohde and Skorokhod are truly exceptional scholars," said Provost Lou Anna K. Simon. "We are fortunate to count them among our faculty."
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences was established in 1780 by the nation's new leaders, including John Adams, James Bowdoin and John Hancock. These founders were later joined by Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and John Quincy Adams. During the 19th century, the elected membership included Daniel Webster, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Alexander Graham Bell. In this century, Margaret Mead, Albert Einstein and Willa Cather were members. Among its fellows are 168 Nobel Prize laureates and 58 Pulitzer Prize winners.