Friday, May 6 2005 19:34 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Houston: CSIR director general R A Mashelkar and Indian-American economist Avinash Dixit have been elected foreign associates of the Washington-based National Academy of Sciences in recognition of their distinguished and continued achievements in original research.

Mashelkar and Dixit, a professor of John J F Sherrerd University at Princeton, were among the 72 new members and 18 foreign associates inducted by the academy, it announced yesterday (May 5, 2005). The academy has, so far, elected only seven Indians as foreign associates.

Election to the academy is considered one of the highest honours that can be accorded to any scientist or engineer.

Sixty two-year-old Mashelkar, recipient of Padmashri and Padmabhushan, directs a chain of 38 publicly funded industrial research and development institutions and is president of the Indian National Science Academy.

Being a leading architect of the country's science and technology policies, he has been in the forefront of the campaign to retrieve India's rights in the battle over patents for turmeric and basmati rice.

Born in Mumbai, Dixit's teaching and research interests include microeconomic theory, game theory, international trade, industrial organisation, growth and development theories, public economics, political economy, and the new institutional economics.

A prolific writer, he has published numerous articles in professional journals and collective volumes. He was president of the Econometric Society in 2001, and a vice-president of the American Economic Association in 2002.