ANN ARBOR—Four University of Michigan professors are among the most recent inductees into the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest distinctions for a scientist or engineer in the United States.

The academy announced Monday the election of 120 members and 26 international members in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

U-M’s newly elected NAS members are:

Joel Blum, the John D. MacArthur Professor, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, and Gerald J. Keeler Distinguished Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.

Arul Chinnaiyan, investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the S.P. Hicks Endowed Professor of Pathology, American Cancer Society Research Professor, and director, Michigan Center for Translational Pathology, Medical School.

Robert L. Griess, the John Griggs Thompson University Professor, Department of Mathematics, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.

Janet L. Smith, professor of biological chemistry, Department of Biological Chemistry, Medical School, and the Margaret J. Hunter Collegiate Professor, Life Sciences Institute.

The newly elected NAS members bring the total number of active members to 2,403 and the total number of international members to 501. International members are nonvoting members of the academy with citizenship outside the United States.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit institution that was established under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. 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.