AUSTIN, Texas—Professor Allen J. Bard, known for his pioneering work in electroanalytical chemistry, has been elected to the American Philosophical Society, the country’s oldest learned society.
The Society, founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1743, honors extraordinary accomplishments in the fields of the sciences and the humanities. Presently, there are more than 700 members around the world, although 85 percent of the membership resides in the United States. Members have included George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Charles Darwin, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, Robert Frost, Marie Curie and Margaret Mead.
Bard, who holds the Hackerman-Welch Regents Chair in Chemistry at The University of Texas at Austin, has been called a “chemist for all seasons” in tribute to the breadth and depth of his work. His research group co-discovered electrogenerated chemiluminescence, and he and his colleagues also invented and patented the scanning electrochemical microscope, a device for studying surfaces at high resolution. His achievements are said to have influenced organic, physical, polymer, solid state and analytical chemistry.
Bard received the prestigious 1998 Pauling Award for “outstanding contributions to chemistry of a character that have merited national and international praise.” He was elected in 1982 to the National Academy of Sciences. He became a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the Electrochemical Society in 1990.
Bard won a distinguished teaching award from his home institution in 1995. All told, he has received more than 30 medals, prizes and honors.
Earlier this week, the American Philosophical Society announced the election of Dr. William H. Goetzmann, a Pulitzer-Prize winning author and professor of American Studies at UT Austin.
