Tosatti Elected to National Academy of Sciences

Erio Tosatti, a physicist with ICTP's Condensed Matter and Statistical Physics section, has been elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Membership in the NAS is one of the highest honors given to a scientist or engineer in the United States. Tosatti will be inducted into the Academy next April during its 149th annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Tosatti, who is also a professor at the International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA) in Trieste, was elected along with 71 others, bringing the total number of active NAS members to just over 2,000. Among the NAS's renowned members are Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer, Thomas Edison, Orville Wright, and Alexander Graham Bell.  Over 180 living Academy members have won Nobel Prizes.

With research interests including nanofriction, nanocontacts and superconductivity, Tosatti has published 470 articles in journals and books, as well as 12 books. His past scientific honours include the Alessandro Volta Medal and Lecture from University of Pavia, election as a Corresponding Member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Rome, and the Tate Medal for International Leadership in Physics from the American Institute of Physics. Tosatti earned a doctorate degree in physics from the Scuola Normale Superiore Pisa.

"This is well-deserved recognition for a scientist who has made a tremendous scientific and institutional impact, from his work in condensed matter to his leadership and teaching at ICTP," said Centre Director Fernando Quevedo. Tosatti was acting director of ICTP from 2002 to 2003, and co-founded the Centre's condensed matter group in 1977.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit honorific society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furthering science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. For more information, or for the full list of newly elected members, visit the NAS website.