UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Lee Kump, John Leone Dean in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. Membership in the NAS is one of the highest honors given to a scientist or engineer in the United States and members are elected in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
NAS is a private, nonprofit institution established in 1863 by a congressional charter signed by former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. It recognizes achievement in science by election to membership, and — with the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine — provides science, engineering, and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations.
This year, the academy elected 120 members and 30 international members to its membership. Kump's election brings Penn State's representation to 17 members, and total membership in the academy to 2,512 active members and 517 international members.
Kump joins five other NAS members from the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences: Richard Alley, Evan Pugh University Professor of Geosciences; Susan Brantley, Dr. Hubert Barnes and Dr. Mary Barnes Professor in Geosciences and recently named Evan Pugh University Professor of Geosciences; Katherine Freeman, Evan Pugh University Professor of Geosciences; James Kasting, Evan Pugh University Professor of Geosciences; and Michael Mann, distinguished professor of atmospheric sciences.
Kump is the 17th dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. Kump joined Penn State’s Department of Geosciences in 1986, served as the department’s associate head from 1994 to 2000, and as head from 2011 to 2017 until his appointment as dean on July 21, 2017. He also served as associate director of the Earth Evolution Program at the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.
Throughout his career, Kump has been an advocate for the scientific study of the Earth and environment and has focused his research on understanding the forces at work behind climate change throughout history. His current research projects include the study of atmospheric oxygen levels, dynamics of the sedimentary record, paleoclimate data assimilation for deep time, and the modeling of Earth’s dynamic systems.
Kump has led a variety of research projects with the Environmental Protection Agency, NSF and NASA, among others. His research has been featured in documentaries that have aired on NOVA Science Now, the Discovery Channel, National Geographic, BBC, Australian Broadcast Corporation and the History Channel.
Kump is the co-author of “Dire Predictions: Understanding Climate Change,” which was published in 2016, and breaks down the findings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He is lead author of the popular textbook “The Earth System” and a co-author of a textbook on numerical modeling.
Kump is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, Geochemical Society, European Association of Geochemistry, Geological Society of London, and the Geological Society of America. He earned a doctorate in marine sciences from the University of South Florida and a bachelor’ degree in geophysical sciences from the University of Chicago.