Washington: Indian-born Kamaljit Singh Bawa, a distinguished professor of biology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, has been elected a member of the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Bawa, founder and president of Bangalore based Ashoka Trust for Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), will join the academy Oct 6 with some of the worlds` most influential artists, scientists, scholars, authors and leaders. Besides sustainability expert Bawa others elected to the Academy in public affairs and journalism category are: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen, Jr, veteran diplomat R Nicholas Burns, television journalist Judy Woodruff; and Boston Globe editor Martin Baron.

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"Election to the Academy is both an honour for extraordinary accomplishment and a call to serve," said Academy President Leslie C Berlowitz.

"We look forward to drawing on the knowledge and expertise of these distinguished men and women to advance solutions to the pressing policy challenges of the day." The announcement of Bawa`s election came as he was receiving the Gunnerus Sustainability Award the world`s first major award for sustainability, awarded by the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters, for the impact his research has had on the sustainability of global biodiversity.
IANS