Bacow and Abriola Honored By Academies

Two Tufts leaders – President Lawrence S. Bacow and Engineering Dean Linda Abriola – will be inducted into renowned academies this weekend.

Medford/Somerville, Mass. [10-10-03] This weekend, two Tufts leaders will be honored by prestigious academies amongst the world’s best and brightest. Tufts President Lawrence S. Bacow will be inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS), and Dean of Tufts School of Engineering Linda Abriola will become a member of the National Academy of Engineering – where they will join individuals at the top of their fields.

In a ceremony to take place this Saturday in Cambridge, Bacow will join top intellectuals, artists and public officials as a member of the AAAS.

“Television legend Walter Cronkite, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan were among the more than 200 scholars, authors and public officials elected to the AAAS,” reported the Associated Press. “The list, which honors experts and intellectuals, also included recording industry pioneer Ray Dolby, Tufts University President Lawrence S. Bacow and William H Gates Sr., philanthropist and father of Microsoft founder Bill Gates.”

Bacow, an economist with a law degree who holds faculty appointments in five departments at Tufts, is an active contributor to the higher education community. He serves on the board of directors of the American Council on Education and on the executive committee of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts. He has authored four books and numerous articles, in addition to lecturing and consulting extensively in the United States and abroad.

Selection to the academy is extremely competitive and prestigious.
“Election to the American Academy is an honor that acknowledges the best of all scholarly fields and professions,” AAAS President Patricia Meyer Spacks said in a statement to reporters. “Newly elected fellows are selected through a highly competitive process that recognizes those who have made preeminent contributions to their disciplines.”

Tufts’ new dean of engineering will also be honored this weekend. Linda Abriola will be inducted into the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) on Sunday. Of the 77 new members of the Academy from the U.S., she is one of only four women selected. Abriola is one of nine female deans of engineering at Carnegie classified doctoral/research universities, and one of only 16 female deans of engineering in the country.

Election to the NAE is among the highest professional distinctions accorded an engineer.

“Academy membership honors those who have made important contributions to engineering theory and practice, including significant contributions to the literature of engineering theory and practice,” officials said in a statement. “[The Academy also honors] those who have demonstrated accomplishment in the pioneering of new fields of engineering, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education."

Abriola – a renowned expert on ground water contamination and remediation – will be honored for “advancing our knowledge of contaminant fate and transport in groundwater and subsurface systems.”