EUGENE–The American Academy of Arts and Sciences has honored University of Oregon physicist Russell J. Donnelly by naming him a fellow of the learned society.

Donnelly is among 211 distinguished scholars, scientists, artists, business executives, educators and public officials the academy named, including such well-recognized individuals as King Juan Carlos I of Spain, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, actress Dame Diana Rigg, composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, actor Paul Newman and filmmaker Woody Allen.

The award comes after a prestigious career for Donnelly, 71, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, holder of an Alfred P. Sloan research fellowship and a fellow of Britain’s Institute of Physics.

"For thirty years he has been at the forefront of the experimental study of helium II flows, especially their thermodynamics and hydrodynamics, and the study of turbulence using cryogenic fluids and methods," according to the academy’s award announcement.

Donnelly joined the UO physics faculty in 1966, and he has been teaching and conducting research ever since. His main area of research has been experimental and theoretical low-temperature physics and fluid mechanics.

In 1996, Donnelly won a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to further investigate low-temperature physics. He formed the Oregon Cryogenic Helium Turbulence Laboratory, where he continues to conduct research. He has published about 200 scientific papers and several books and directed 25 doctoral theses.

"Election [as a fellow] is the result of a highly competitive selection process that recognizes those who have made preeminent contributions to all fields and professions," according James O. Freedman, academy president and former Dartmouth College chief executive.

Founded in the midst of the American Revolution by John Adams, James Bowdoin, John Hancock and other leaders of the young nation, the academy was chartered "to cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity and happiness of a free, independent and virtuous people."

The academy has numbered among its members some of the world’s finest minds and most influential leaders, from George Washington and Ben Franklin in the 18th century to Daniel Webster and Ralph Waldo Emerson in the 19th, and Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill in the 20th. The current membership of 3,600 fellows and 600 foreign honorary members features more than 150 Nobel laureates and 50 Pulitzer Prize winners.

This year’s new fellows will be welcomed as members at the annual induction ceremony, scheduled to be held on Oct. 13 at the academy’s headquarters in Cambridge, Mass.

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