Science group taps UCI chief

Chancellor Ralph Cicerone will likely become president of the National Academy of Sciences next summer.

By Gary Robbins

June 16, 2004

University of California, Irvine, Chancellor Ralph Cicerone has been nominated president of the National Academy of Sciences, a society of trailblazing scholars that is also a major voice on issues such as stem-cell research and climate change.

Cicerone, 61, is the sole nominee to lead the private, nonprofit academy, established by Congress in 1863 to advise government on science and the arts. If elected, he will become president July 1, 2005, and leave UCI, where he has been chancellor since 1998. "I couldn't turn it down. This is one of the most important positions in science, technology and medicine," Cicerone said.

Cicerone is an atmospheric scientist who has won numerous awards for his research on greenhouse gases and ozone depletion. As chancellor, he has helped recruit such renowned figures as geneticist Doug Wallace and played a key role in raising money, including helping persuade Irvine Co. Chairman Donald Bren to donate $20 million in December, mostly for endowed professorships.