UC San Diego Professor Barbara F. Walter Elected to the National Academy of Sciences

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Barbara F. Walter, professor of political science at the University of California San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. The announcement comes just weeks after Walter was elected to another prestigious honorary society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Walter is one of the 120 members and 23 international members who were selected into National Academy of Sciences this year in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

Those elected bring the total number of active members to 2,565 and the total number of international members to 526 since the academy was created by a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863.

“The inclusion of Professor Walter into the National Academy of Sciences—one of the highest honors bestowed on U.S. scientists and engineers—is well deserved,” said Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “As one of the nation’s most respected political scientists, Dr. Walter’s insights on threats to democracy, political violence and civil wars have informed citizens and policymakers throughout the world. This recognition, as well as the recent induction of Professor Walter into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, is a testament to UC San Diego’s leadership in world-class social science research—a key component of our $1.64 billion research enterprise that drives new discoveries and advances our collective understanding of the world’s most pressing issues.”

As one of the world's leading experts on civil wars, political violence and terrorism, Walter occasionally consults for the World Bank, the United Nations, the U.S. Departments of Defense and State and the January 6th Committee. She is a permanent member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is a frequent live guest on CNN, MSNBC and other news programs. Her newest book, the New York Times bestseller “How Civil Wars Start: And How to Stop Them,” which explores whether the U.S. is heading toward a second civil war, was a critical and commercial success.

She is the recipient of the 2022 National Peacemaker Award and the Susan Strange Award. Walter has previously authored other critically acclaimed books, such as “Committing to Peace: The Successful Settlement of Civil Wars,” “Reputation and Civil War: Why Separatist Conflicts Are So Violent” and “Civil Wars, Insecurity, and Intervention.”

For more information about this year’s new members of the National Academy of Sciences, go to this link.