BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Alan Anderson
Alan Anderson is research and editorial director of the Science Institutes Group (SIG), an independent advisory group based at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ. The mission of the SIG is to help strengthen science and technology and their uses in developing nations. Mr. Anderson also works as a consultant writer for the National Academies in Washington on issues of science policy. He holds degrees in science journalism, English literature, and biology. close window

Francisco J. Ayala
Francisco Ayala, a biologist at the University of California at Irvine noted for his contributions to population and evolution genetics, has made singular contributions not only to his discipline but also to education, philosophy, ethics, religion and national science policy. A recipient of the National Medal of Science, he is president-elect of Sigma Xi. His many achievements include developing a new method for measuring population adaptation, elucidation of the role of genetic polymorphism in determining population adaptation and determining the conditions that allow the coexistence of species competing for limited resources. Ayala has served on the governing council of the National Academy of Sciences and as president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His books include Tempo and Mode in Evolution, Modern Genetics and Population and Evolutionary Genetics: A Primer. close window

Avi Baranes
Currently the director of the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Sciences of Eilat, Avi Baranes was educated in marine sciences in Israel. He is also a staff member of the Oceanography Department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and teaches annual graduate courses in ichthyology as well as ecology of coral reef fishes. Baranes is interested in the taxonomy and biology of sharks, the ecology of red sea coral and deep-sea fishes, monitoring of coral reef fishes, fisheries management and regional cooperation in research, monitoring and training. close window

Bilal Al Bashir
Bilal Al Bashir received his undergraduate education in civil engineering in England, and he obtained both of his graduate degrees in environmental engineering in Canada. Currently the commissioner for the environment of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority, Al Bashir has also served as an assistant professor at the Jordan University of Science & Technology, assistant secretary general of the Jordan Valley Authority, and project manager of the Gulf of Aqaba Environmental Action Plan. He has participated in several international and regional conferences on the environment and has a number of publications in scientific journals. close window

Luis Benítez-Bribiesca
Luis Benítez-Bribiesca studied medicine in Mexico, followed by a residency in the U.S. and postgraduate research in Germany. After serving as chief of the pathology department at several Mexican hospitals, he founded the research division of oncology at the Oncological Hospital of Mexico. Still the head of this research division, Benítez-Bribiesca is also a professor of pathology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Over the course of his career, he has published 110 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals, 85 review articles and essays, and nine books on various medical subjects. In addition to being a researcher and author, he has also served as editor of several journals. He founded and served as the chief editor of the Mexican Journal of Pathology, Patología, and he is presently editor of Gaceta Médica de México, the oldest medical journal in Latin America, and editor-in-chief of the Archives of Medical Research, a Mexican biomedical journal published completely in English. close window

Norman E. Borlaug
Nobel laureate Norman E. Borlaug is an internationally acclaimed agronomist at Texas A&M University. A long-time Sigma Xi member, he is the recipient of the Society’s 2003 John P. McGovern Science and Society Award. In 1944, he was assigned the task of organizing and directing the Cooperative Wheat Research and Production program in Mexico, a joint undertaking by the Mexican government and the Rockefeller Foundation. The program involved research in genetics, plant breeding, plant pathology, entomology, agronomy, soil science and cereal technology. Within 20 years, he was spectacularly successful in finding a high-yield, disease-resistant wheat. He arranged to put new cereal strains into extensive production to feed the hungry people of the world. His work in high-yield agriculture sparked the Green Revolution in the mid-1960s, saving millions around the world from starvation. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. close window

Michael P. Crosby
Michael Crosby is executive director of the National Science Board. He was formerly senior advisor for international science policy at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Crosby is a marine biologist with more than 20 years of research, teaching, science management and leadership experience. He also served as executive director for the NOAA Science Advisory Board. He has played an active role in leading multidisciplinary research programs and in developing national policy for U.S. science programs. Prior to joining NOAA, Crosby held faculty positions at the University of South Carolina, Coastal Carolina University, the University of Charleston and Salisbury State University. He has also had previous science positions with the National Marine Fisheries Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the National Cancer Institute. close window

Carlos Duarte
Carlos Duarte has degrees in scientific instrumentation, advanced management, and mechanical-electrical engineering. With an expertise in technology management, technology foresight and innovation systems in Mexico, he is presently coordinating the Information Technology and Telecommunications sector activities of a national exercise in technology foresight: “Prospectiva Tecnológica Industrial en México: 2002-2015”, which is being organized by the Council for Technology and Scientific Development of Monterrey, México. Duarte has been appointed as the representative for CONACYT in the US. His mandate includes: helping develop the innovation system in Mexico by establishing collaborative links with the U.S. high-tech industry, government and academia; developing mechanisms to enhance the image of Mexico as an innovative country; and organizing matchmaking events to explore business opportunities between American and Mexican companies and institutions in the high-tech arena. Working with UCSD CONNECT, he is creating a business plan focused on developing an Innovation Center for Innovative and Industrial Technology in Baja California, an organization designed to help the development of high value-added companies in the Baja California border region. Duarte is affiliated with several professional organizations in Mexico and currently is the president of the northwest chapter of ADIAT, the Mexican Association of Directors of Applied Research and Technology Development. close window

Lisbeth Fog
President of the Colombian Association of Science Journalism, Lisbeth Fog is a freelance science writer for a national newspaper as well as Latin American magazines. She has worked at public, private and international organizations in science communication. The author of four books, she has been a researcher on the process of communicating science, mainly in the print media. The Colombian Association of Science Journalism recently established a news agency, called NOTICyT, dedicated to science and technology. One of its goals is to raise awareness about the importance of the public understanding of science by sending weekly bulletins to the national mass media. Another NOTICyT goal is to train future science journalists. The group received an award through Sigma Xi's Packard International Networking Initiative to support these efforts. close window

Robyn Gilden
Robyn Gilden is a master’s-prepared community health nurse with a focus in environmental health. After five years in critical care nursing she made the transition to public health and is currently working as the community outreach program manager for the Center for Hazardous Substances in Urban Environments. As part of her work, she engages with diverse communities in EPA Region 3, all laboring with a common concern about contaminated sites in their neighborhoods. Gilden collaborates with them to develop community knowledge and skills and thereby encouraging them to become active participants in clean-up projects, from the beginning of assessment through the end of redevelopment. Another facet of her work is to facilitate communication among stakeholders and create a forum for open discussions among all parties. These entities include, but are not limited to, government agencies, developers, bankers, realtors, engineers, academics, and other health care professionals. close window

Phillip A. Griffiths
Phillip Griffiths is director of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey and chair of the Science Institutes Group. He was formerly provost and James B. Duke Professor of Mathematics at Duke University and professor of mathematics at Harvard University, and he has taught at Princeton University and the University of California, Berkeley. Griffiths served on the National Science Board from 1991-1996. He is a distinguished presidential fellow for international affairs for the U.S. National Academies, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a foreign associate of the Third World Academy of Sciences. From 1993-1999, Griffiths chaired the Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy (COSEPUP). Griffiths is secretary of the International Mathematical Union. close window

Mohamed H. A. Hassan
Mohamed Hassan is executive director of the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), an autonomous international organization based in Trieste, Italy. He is also president of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), secretary general of the Third World Network of Scientific Organizations and serves on a number of committees with other organizations worldwide. He was born in the Sudan and holds a Ph.D. in Plasma Physics from the University of Oxford, UK. A former professor and dean of the School of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Khartoum, he received the order of scientific merit of Brazil and is a fellow of TWAS, AAS and the Islamic Academy of Sciences as well as an honorary member of the Colombian Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences. His research areas include theoretical plasma physics, physics of wind erosion and sand transport. close window

Anders Hedberg
Anders Hedberg was educated as a Ph.D. pharmacologist in Sweden. He held positions at the University of Göteborg, Astra/Hässle Cardiovascular and Universität Johan Wolfgang Goethe before joining the Department of Pharmacology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, as a senior research fellow. Since 1983, Anders has pursued research on mechanisms of pharmacological intervention in hypertension, heart failure, myocardial ischemia, and thrombosis with Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) Pharmaceutical Research Institute. In 1991, he became Director of the Center for Science Education, with responsibility for science communication, education, and training of BMS Research Institute scientists worldwide. In that capacity, he also developed a comprehensive science outreach program for BMS, with a focus on improvement and support of elementary and middle school science education in school districts where BMS operates. Having established strong alliances between BMS and national and international science education agencies, he continues to lead BMS’ worldwide science education outreach efforts. Hedberg is active in a number of organizations, including the Building Bridges to the Future Industry-Education Partnership, the National Science Resources Center (NSRC) Advisory Board, Teach for America AmeriCorps Network, and the Education Policy Council of the National Alliance of Business. close window

Mary T. Kalin Arroyo
Mary T. Kalin Arroyo, a New Zealander by birth, has spent the duration of her academic career in Latin America, where she is currently Full Professor of Biology and Director of the Millennium Center for Advanced Studies in Ecology and Research on Biodiversity at the University of Chile. Her research expertise lies in the areas of Andean plant reproductive biology and biogeography as well as conservation biology. An active researcher who spends at least three months of the year doing fieldwork at high elevations in the southern Andes mountains, she has written around 140 research articles and authored or co-authored five books. She is a Foreign Member of the United States Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the Linnaean Society of London, a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand, a Member of the Chilean Academy of Sciences, and a Corresponding Member of the Botanical Society of America. The first President of the Latin American Plant Sciences Network, she has held a prestigious Chilean Endowed Presidential Science Chair and was awarded the Amanda Labarca Medal of Merit going to an outstanding woman academic in Chile. close window

Manuel Maass
Manuel Maass is a Senior Scientist at the Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas of UNAM, Campus Morelia. He obtained a B.Sc. Degree from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (Mexico City), and a Ph.D. from the Institute of Ecology of the University of Georgia. Dr. Maass has concentrated his academic activities coordinating, for 16 years, a long-term ecosystem research project aimed to understand the structure and functioning of tropical dry forests in the Pacific Coast of Mexico. He has published more than 50 scientific papers and book chapters on the subject. Also, he has been a visiting scholar at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory in North Carolina (USDA-FS), as well as in the Biology Department at Stanford University, and in the Land and Water Division at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO, Canberra, Australia). Dr. Maass participates, on a regular basis, in Master and Ph.D. Programs in Ecology in Mexico, both teaching and tutoring graduate students. He was an active promoter for the establishment of a new Campus of UNAM in the city of Morelia (Michoacán, Mexico), and is currently a member of the committee for establishing the Mexican Long-Term Ecological Research Network (MEX-LTER). close window

Linda H. Mantel
Linda H. Mantel is past-president of the Association for Women in Science (AWIS) and a long-time member of Sigma Xi, currently also a member of the Diversity Committee and the official Delegate of the Columbia-Willamette chapter. She spent 25 years as a faculty member in Biology and administrator at City College of City University of New York, where she carried out teaching and research in animal physiology and physiological ecology. In 1993 she moved to Portland, Oregon where she served as Dean of the Faculty at Reed College, Vice President at Willamette University, and Director of Technology at the University of Portland. She is currently Higher Education Coordinator for the Intel International Science and Education Fair (ISEF) 2004, which will take place in Portland. Mantel has been involved with international science for many years, having taught a graduate course at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, studied at the University of Cambridge, and participated in international meetings in Belgium, Japan, South Africa, and Botswana. She participated in a major conference on Women in Science in Southern Africa in 2002 and will discuss this event in her presentation. close window

Sergio Martínez
Sergio Martínez is a professor and researcher in the electrical engineering department at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM). His degrees in microelectronics, electrical engineering and electronic and communications engineering were obtained in France, the Netherlands, and Mexico, respectively. He has directed many theses and has published several international papers. He has also given seminars on topics such as silicon micro-machined cross-connects in optical networks, automated electronic design, the future of microelectronics and the use of electronic circuit simulators. close window

José Luis Morán-López
José Luis Morán-López, a Ph.D. physicist trained in Mexico and Germany, is the Director General of the Instituto Potosino de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica A.C. in San Luis Potosí, México. The author or co-author of 185 technical publications, his research focuses on alloy theory, the physical properties of transition metals and surface physics. Morán-López has received several awards, including the National Award on Exact Sciences given by the Mexican Academy of Sciences (1985), the Manuel Noriega Morales Award in Exact Sciences given by the Organization of American States (1988), the C.V. Raman Award from by the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (1990) and the National Award on Science and Arts given by the President of Mexico (1996). In addition, he is a fellow of both the Third World Academy of Sciences and the American Physical Society and has served as president of both the Mexican Physical Society (1994-1996) and the Latin American Federation of Physical Societies (1995-1998) and vice president of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) from 1999-2002. close window

Ana Rosa Moreno
Ana Rosa Moreno is a biologist from UNAM with a M.Sc. in human ecology (Public Health School of the University of Texas). She has developed professionally in the environmental health sector through her involvement in academic, governmental and international organizations. Moreno presently coordinates the Environmental Health Program of the U.S.-Mexico Foundation for Science. She has authored diverse national and international publications on public health and has been a professor in the areas of environmental health and risk communication. She serves as a risk communication consultant for the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) and for several industries. A World Health Organization consultant on environmental health, climate change and risk communication, she has also served as the manager of projects on environmental health for PAHO. Moreno has been coordinator of the development of a clearinghouse on environmental information for Mexico and Central America. She has several professional affiliations, including the Biologists College, where she is a past secretary, and the Mexican Society of Public Health. close window

Jaime Parada Avila
Jaime Parada is director general of CONACYT (Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología), the National Council for Science and Technology in Mexico. In the spring of 2002, he obtained by unanimous decision of the Lower House of Congress and the Senate the separation of CONACYT from the Ministry of Education, becoming an independent agency responding accountable to the president of Mexico. In addition, several tax reforms have taken place during the two years of his tenure aimed at increasing funding to support science and technology development. One of Parada’s areas of interest is to further develop the concept of public and private partnerships using science and technology as an engine for economic and sustainable development. Among CONACYT’s research priorities are technology information and communication, biotechnology, material sciences, manufacturing design and processes, and urban and rural infrastructure and development. close window

José A. de-la-Peña
José de-la-Peña is immediate past president of the Mexican Academy of Sciences. He has been director of the Institute of Mathematics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) since 1998, and is currently serving as president of the executive committee of the Mathematical Union of Latin America and the Caribbean. Most of his work is related to representation theory of algebras, but he also has published on linear algebra, mathematical chemistry, combinatorics and statistics. De-la-Peña has written more than 20 papers and two books on the popularization of science. He designed the Mathematical Hall in the UNAM Science Museum and is a past president of the Mexican Mathematical Society. His work has been recognized with the National University Prize for Young Researchers, the prize of the Mexican Academy of Sciences and the Third World Academy of Sciences’ Award in Basic Sciences. close window

William Peterson
William Peterson is Co-Director of the International Institute at California State University San Bernardino and Associate Professor of Theatre Arts. He helped design and initiate the theatre programs at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand and the National University of Singapore and has directed and produced theatre in Singapore, New Zealand, San Francisco, and San Diego. He is the author of Theatre and the Politics of Culture in Contemporary Singapore, and he has contributed to texts such as the Intercultural Communication Reader and encyclopedias ranging from Contemporary Dramatists and The Encyclopedia of Modern Drama to The Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices. Professor Peterson is currently Secretary/ Treasurer of the Association for Asian Performance and the U.S. Representative for the Australasian Drama Studies Association. close window

Eugenia M. del Pino Veintimilla
Eugenia M. del Pino Veintimilla, a citizen of Ecuador, has been a professor of Biology at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador since 1972. She graduated from this university, was awarded a Master of Science Degree from Vassar College, and a Ph. D. from Emory University. She received a fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to conduct research at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg. She has contributed about 40 original publications about the reproduction and development of the marsupial frogs and other frogs from Ecuador. In addition, she has been involved with the conservation of the Galapagos Islands since 1973. She was Vice President for Ecuador of the Charles Darwin Foundation for the Galapagos Islands from 1992-1996. The World Wildlife Fund awarded her a Diploma, and the Charles Darwin Foundation awarded her a Medal in recognition of her Galapagos conservation work. She was elected to the Latin American Academy of Sciences and to the Third World Academy of Sciences, the only citizen of Ecuador in these Academies to date. She was awarded the UNESCO/ L’Oreal Award for Women in Science. She received the Sheth International Distinguished Emory Alumni Award from Emory University. Most recently, she was awarded the "Pluma de la Dignidad" from the National Association of Ecuadorian Journalists. close window

Peter H. Raven
Peter Raven is 2003-2004 president of Sigma Xi. He is director of the Missouri Botanical Garden and Engelmann Professor of Botany at Washington University in St. Louis. For his contributions to the fields of biodiversity and the environment, Raven received the National Medal of Science. A member of the National Academy of Sciences and former NAS home secretary, he chairs the National Research Council's Division of Earth and Life Sciences and is a co-founder of the Flora of China project, an effort to produce a descriptive encyclopedia of the 30,000 different plants there. His role as an environmentalist and global team builder has brought him membership in the national academies of many countries. His many honors include the 2003 International Cosmos Prize and the Volvo Environment Prize. Raven is a past president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. close window

Rosalind Reid
Rosalind Reid is editor of American Scientist, the interdisciplinary magazine of Sigma Xi. During her tenure, the magazine has won numerous awards, including the Gold Award for General Excellence from the Society of National Association Publications. Since joining the magazine staff in 1990, she has collaborated with dozens of scientists and engineers to develop illustrated articles on their research and on a range of professional and social issues related to science. She came to the magazine from a career in news writing and editing. She worked as a reporter at daily newspapers in Maine and North Carolina, earning awards from state press associations. She holds a master's degree in public policy sciences from Duke University, which she attended as an HEW Public Service Fellow. Reid began writing and editing articles about science and engineering in 1984 while on the staff of North Carolina State University, where she served as assistant news director and research news editor. She is currently the first Journalist in Residence at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. close window

Roberto Sánchez-Rodríguez
Roberto Sánchez-Rodríguez, an international scholar with academic experience in both the University of California and Mexico, has recently been appointed director of the University of California Institute for Mexico and the United States (UC MEXUS). With a multidisciplinary background spanning environmental and urban studies, he also holds a position as professor of environmental studies at UC Riverside. His research concentrates on the human impact of global environmental change, environmental issues in urban areas, sustainable development, U.S.-Mexico border environmental policies and practices, and ties between trade and environment. After completing a bachelors degree in architecture in Mexico, he studied in France and Germany, where he received his doctorate in regional and urban planning. close window

José Sarukhán
José Sarukhán is a professor in the Institute of Ecology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). He was director of Institute of Biology there from 1978-1986 and vice president for science from 1987-1988. He served as president of the University of Mexico from 1989-1996. A foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences and foreign member of the Royal Society, he has published seven books and more than 100 papers on tropical ecology, plant population ecology, biodiversity and handbooks on weeds and tropical trees, as well as many publications on higher education and scientific development in Mexico. In 1992, he started the Mexican National Commission of Biodiversity (CONABIO), which provides basic information to establish conservation and natural resource management policies for Mexico. He was in charge of the Social and Human Development Cabinet of President Vicente Fox's government from December 2000 to March 2002. close window

Gerson S. Sher
Gerson Sher has been president of the U.S. Civilian Research Development Foundation (CRDF) for the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union since its formation in 1995. From 1993 to 1995, he was chief operating officer of the International Science Foundation, a $140 million private charitable foundation funded by George Soros. He served for 20 years on the staff of the National Science Foundation’s Division of International Programs, where he directed cooperative science programs with the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Sher served six years as a program officer for scientific exchanges between the USSR and Eastern Europe at the National Research Council/National Academy of Sciences and concurrently as staff for the NAS Committee on Human Rights. His publications include Praxis: Marxist Criticism and Dissent in Socialist Yugoslavia. close window

Somdatta Sinha
Somdatta Sinha is a senior scientist at the Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology, Hyderabad–a premier national laboratory in India. She leads a group that works on mathematical and computational modeling of biological systems. She is a fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences and has also been a fellow of the Wissenschaftskolleg (Institute of Advanced Study) at Berlin, Germany. Her work has been published in international and national journals, and she has given lectures at many universities and research institutions in Europe and the USA. Along with her research she has also been involved in writing science textbooks for Indian schools with an integrated and interdisciplinary approach. She has written articles on scientific topics for the vernacular science magazines and been interested in gender-related issues in science and society. close window

Nelson Torto
Nelson Torto graduated from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), UK, with a BSc (Hons) in Analytical Chemistry in 1992. He then joined the University of Botswana (UB) as a staff development fellow. In 1995 he obtained his MSc in Analytical Chemistry from UB, and a PhD in Analytical Chemistry in 1999 from Lund University, Sweden. Since 1999, Nelson has been involved in networking for science and technology. Until 2001, he was head of the analytical division at UB. During his term of office he organized annual international workshops in analytical chemistry. In 2000 he was the secretary of the committee that organized the first Botswana symposium on the harnessing of science and technology for economic development. Nelson is currently the secretary general and secretary for the Southern and Eastern Africa Network of Analytical Chemists (SEANAC) and the Botswana Trust for Harnessing of Science and Technology for Economic Development, respectively. He has received several awards and nominations and has an active analytical research group. Nelson has published more than 30 papers, including four invited reviews in international journals. Nelson is currently guest editor for a conference issue of the IUPAC journal, Pure and Applied Chemistry. Nelson enjoys jazz and plays the alto saxophone. close window

James M. Vose
At the Coweeta Hydologic Laboratory, James Vose is both the project leader/research ecologist and co-principal investigator of the National Science Foundation Long-Term Ecological Research Program. Educated at universities across the United States, his research interests presently include: interactions among disturbance and water quality and quantity; restoration of degraded ecosystems; and modeling biological systems. close window