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McClung and Keller to Lead National Scholarly Societies

C. Robertson McClung

C. Robertson McClung (Photo by Joseph Mehling '69)

C. Robertson McClung, professor of biological sciences and genetics and associate dean of the faculty for the sciences, has been voted president-elect by his peers of the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB). McClung's one-year term began earlier this month. ASPB is a nonprofit science society of 5,000 members from the United States and nearly 60 other nations.

"This is a great honor," says McClung. "I am excited about and sobered by the current challenges to ASPB in advancing the science of plant biology. The study of plants is vital for the long-term health of the planet, but plant science competes for attention and for funding dollars with other compelling interests, including health care and lunar and interplanetary exploration. ASPB must continue to enhance the scientific literacy of the public and to make the case for the importance of plant science. We also need to recruit and train the next generation of plant scientists."

McClung has served on the North American Arabidopsis Steering Committee since 2003. He is a member of the ASPB Publications Committee and worked with the Society's Committee on the Status of Women in Plant Physiology. "My research," says McClung, "addresses the molecular basis of circadian rhythmicity in plants, focusing on defining the mechanisms by which plants keep time and how they use the mechanisms to coordinate their activities with the solar cycle. Recently, it has broadened to include ecological and evolutionary aspects of the circadian clock. I am interested in knowing, for example, if the presence of an accurate circadian clock enhances a plant's ability to succeed in certain environments."

ASPB publishes The Plant Cell and Plant Physiology, two of the most frequently cited plant science journals. The Society, founded in 1924, is headquartered in Rockville, Maryland.

Punam Anand Keller

Punam Anand Keller

Punam Anand Keller, Charles Henry Jones Third Century Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business, has been named president-elect of the Association for Consumer Research (ACR). Keller was also recently invited to serve on the board of trustees at the Marketing Science Institute (MSI). In her new roles she will act as a liaison between consumer researchers and corporations—facilitating the application of research on consumer decision-making on firm performance.

Keller's research focuses on consumer information processing and choice behavior. She is currently examining retirement savings and health, and designing and implementing communications programs that enhance employee well-being.

A supporter of Transformative Consumer Research (TCR), a movement that supports research related to consumer behavior and quality of life, Keller serves on the TCR advisory committee and will cochair the first TCR conference in July 2007. Participants will focus on how scholarship can lead to changes in consumer behaviors for common and personal good. The conference will also examine interdisciplinary TCR.

Keller's research has inspired a new second-year elective at Tuck: Transformative Marketing: Health, Wealth and the Arts, which will present marketing challenges around issues pertaining to financial health, obesity, exercise, nutrition, and diet.

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