Pope Francis Appoints New Members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences Including a NASA Scientist, a Biologist from China, and a Doctor of Philosophy and Technology

Appointment of ordinary members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences

The Holy Father has appointed the following as ordinary members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences: the distinguished Professors Meng Anming, Professor of Developmental Biology at Tsinghua University in Beijing; Luis Fernando Larrondo Castro, Professor in the Departamento de Genética Molecular y Microbiología della Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; Cecilia Tortajada, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Water Policy of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy of the National University of Singapore; Maria T. Zuber, E.A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Olivier Pourquié, Professor in the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School.

Curricula vitae

Professor Meng Anming was born on 22 July 1963 in Dazhu County, People’s Republic of China. He was awarded a degree in agronomy from the Southwest Agricultural University and a doctorate in genetics from the University of Nottingham. He is professor of developmental biology at Tsinghua University in Beijing, and the author of numerous publications.

Professor Luis Fernando Larrondo Castro was born on 30 June 1973 in Santiago de Chile, Chile. He was awarded a doctorate in cellular and molecular biology from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He is a professor in the Departamento de Genética Molecular y Microbiología of the Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas at the same university, and director of the Millennium Institute for Integrative Biology (iBio). He has received numerous honours and awards, including Aschoff’s Rule in 2017.

Professor Cecilia Tortajada was born on 9 August 1962 in Nayarit, Mexico. She was awarded a doctorate in philosophy and technology from the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. She is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Water Policy of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. She received the Crystal Drop Award in 2021 and is the author of numerous publications.

Professor Maria T. Zuber was born on 27 June 1958 in Norristown, Pennsylvania, United States of America. She was awarded a doctorate in geophysics from Brown University, Providence. She is E.A. Griswold Professor of Geophysics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. She has participated in various NASA planetary missions, receiving several honours and awards, including the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 2022. She is the author of numerous publications.

Professor Olivier Pourquié was born on 1 September 1964 in Angoulême, France. He was awarded a doctorate in general microbiology from the University of Paris VII. He is professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and professor of pathology and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston. He has received several honours and awards, including the Science Prize of the Gulbenkian Foundation, and is the author of numerous publications.
Source: https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2025/03/07/250307a.html