May 14, 2004

Distinguished professor: MGHer elected to NAS

John T. Potts, Jr, MD, of the MGH Endocrine Unit and MGH Department of Medicine, recently was elected as one of 72 new members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).
Election to membership of the NAS is considered one of the highest honors that can be accorded to a U.S. scientist and is given in recognition of distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

"I am deeply honored," says Potts. "Also, I am pleased at the recognition it represents for my colleagues at the MGH — past and present — whose work was vital to my election."

The NAS is a private organization of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the innovation of science and technology and its use for the general welfare. The organization was established in 1863 by a Congressional act of incorporation, signed by president Abraham Lincoln, which calls on the academy to act as an official advisor to the federal government upon request in matters of science and technology.

Potts, director of Research and physician-in-chief emeritus, also received the Harvard Medical School William Silen Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award in 2003.