Marcia McNutt, a prominent geophysicist and alumna of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, has been nominated as the next president of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences.
McNutt, who earned a PhD in earth sciences from Scripps/UC San Diego in 1978, will be the first woman to lead the academy since it was chartered by Congress in 1863.
The private society’s mission is to provide advice to the nation on science and technology. It also publishes an influential journal, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
McNutt is currently editor in chief of the journal Science. In 2009 she was nominated by President Obama as the director of the U.S. Geological Survey, a position she held until 2013. She also served for 12 years as president and CEO of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.
“Alumni from Scripps and UC San Diego have leveraged their education and experiences to move into prominent leadership positions around the world — and Marcia McNutt is the latest example of that,” said Margaret Leinen, director of Scripps and UC San Diego vice chancellor of marine sciences. “NAS will benefit immensely from Marcia’s wealth of experience and unique leadership qualities.”
McNutt has published nearly 100 peer-reviewed articles and participated in 15 major oceanographic expeditions investigating ocean island volcanism and tectonic uplift. She completed underwater demolition training with the Navy Seals. Her research on the equilibrium of the earth’s crust on continents and oceans led to fundamental contributions in understanding the evolution of islands.
