Academia Sinica Academician Dr. Ho-Kwang (David) Mao was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society of London, 16 May. Dr. Mao was among 44 new Fellows, eight Foreign Members and one Honorary Fellow to be elected.

Dr. Mao is a member of the scientific staff at the Geophysical Laboratory of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. He is distinguished for his extraordinary creative impact on high-pressure physics, chemistry, materials, Earth and planetary sciences. Throughout his career of four decades, he has pioneered numerous major technical breakthroughs and facility developments that have enabled high-pressure science to reach a new dimension.

Mao's research has been marked by seminal advances across a wide frontier from dense hydrogen, elemental superconductors, and dynamic and magnetic phenomena; through novel high-pressure chemistry and new materials; to studies of minerals, metals and alloys at extreme P-T conditions, underpinning much of our present knowledge of the deep Earth and planetary interiors.

The statues of the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of science, require that it regularly elects eminent foreign researchers known for their scientific discoveries and attainments as Foreign Members. Candidates for election must have made "a substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematics, engineering science and medical science".