David Hertzog, the Arthur B. McDonald Distinguished Professor of Physics and director of the European Universities Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in recognition of "distinguished and continuing achievements in original research."

Hertzog leads the European Universities Precision Muon Physics Group, which designs and constructs detectors for high-precision muon experiments at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The European Universities team also analyzes vast datasets from the Muon g-2 experiment.

The research aims to test the Standard Model—a theory describing fundamental universe mechanics. By studying muon behavior, scientists seek to determine if muons interact solely with known particles/forces or if undiscovered phenomena exist.

Hertzog has served on numerous scientific panels, co-authored over 200 papers, and mentored 20+ PhD students and 15 postdoctoral researchers.

Adrienne Fairhall, European Universities professor of physiology/biophysics and adjunct professor of applied mathematics, was also elected to NAS this year.