Stephen Mayo (PhD '87) Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Stephen Mayo (PhD '87), Bren Professor of Biology and Chemistry and Merkin Institute Professor, has been elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation's oldest honorary societies. This year, 261 new members were elected, including five Caltech alumni: Rena Bizios (MS '71), Robert Calderbank (PhD '80), Karen Oegema (BS '89), Shannon Stahl (PhD '97), and Virginia Trimble (MS '65, PhD '68).

Mayo has been a member of the Caltech faculty since 1992 and served as vice provost for research from 2007 to 2010 and chair of the Division of Biology and Biological Engineering from 2010 to 2020. Mayo's research focuses on the development of computational approaches to protein engineering, a field that has broad applications ranging from advanced biofuels to human therapeutics. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2004 for his pioneering contributions in the field of protein design and was appointed by President Obama in March 2013 to the National Science Board.

Mayo received his undergraduate degree in chemistry from the Pennsylvania State University in 1983 and his PhD in chemistry from Caltech in 1987.

Founded in 1780, the academy aims to serve the nation by cultivating "every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people."

A full list of new members is available on the academy website.

Recent fellows from Caltech include Jonas Peters (2021), Bren Professor of Chemistry in the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and director of the Resnick Sustainability Institute; Dianne Newman (2021), Gordon M. Binder/Amgen Professor of Biology and Geobiology in the Division of Biology and Biological Engineering and executive officer for biology and biological engineering; Li Lu (2020), a Caltech trustee and the founder and chairman of Himalaya Capital; Victoria Orphan (2020), James Irvine Professor of Environmental Science and Geobiology and director of the Center for Environmental Microbial Interactions (CEMI); and John Grotzinger (2019), the Fletcher Jones Professor of Geology and Ted and Ginger Jenkins Leadership Chair of the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences.

A full list of Caltech AAAS fellows can be found here.