Four Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) scientists have been elected to the 2012 class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an honorary society founded in 1780 to recognize leading “thinkers and doers.”

The new members are Peidong Yang and Eli Yablonovitch of the Materials Sciences Division, James Berger of the Physical Biosciences Division and Bernard Sadoulet of the Physics Division. All four also hold joint appointments as professors at the University of California, Berkeley. They are among a class of 220 new members that include Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, philanthropist Melinda Gates, actor/director Clint Eastwood, playwright Neil Simon and Walt Disney CEO Robert Iger.