IANS
 
New York, May 7: Two Indian Americans are among 72 new members inducted into the prestigious National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in Washington.

In recognition of their distinguished achievements in original research, physicist Katepalli Sreenivasan and agricultural economist Prabhu Pingali were among the 18 foreign associates included in the academy last week.

Sreenivasan, a world-renowned experimental physicist whose major fields of interest are fluid dynamics and turbulence, is currently a professor of physics and mechanical engineering at the University of Maryland where he also directs the Institute for Physical Science and Technology.

Pingali got his Ph D in Economics from North Carolina State University and is the director of the agricultural and development economics division of the food and agriculture organisation of the United Nations, an ethnic Indian newspaper, IndoLink reported.

Pingali has devoted his entire career to agriculture. His research and advisory work focused on technological change, environmental externalities and agricultural development policy. He has authored (or co-authored) nine books and 90 journal articles and book chapters.

NAS is a corporation in the US whose members serve as advisers to the government on science, engineering and medicine.