Mountain View, CA – The SETI Institute today announced the
appointment of Dr. Baruch S. Blumberg to the Institute’s
Board of Trustees. Dr. Blumberg is a winner of the 1976
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Blumberg’s
appointment fulfills an important Institute goal of
expanding the scientific range of its board to match the
broad scope of its mission and the interdisciplinary
composition of its research team.

Says SETI Institute CEO, Thomas Pierson, “We have sought the
appointment of an esteemed biologist to our board for quite
some time, and we truly have found the best possible
individual to fill that role.”
Blumberg is currently a Distinguished Scientist at the Fox
Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as well
as a Professor of Medicine and Anthropology at the
University of Pennsylvania. He served as the first Director
of NASA’s Astrobiology Institute from May 1999 until last
October, and also was Senior Advisor to the NASA
Administrator for one year during that time.

In Fall 2000, Blumberg participated in a SETI Institute
working group that included leading astrophysicists,
geochemists, paleontologists, biologists, and scientists
from numerous other disciplines. The Institute convened
this blue ribbon panel to chart the future of its
astrobiological research unit, the Center for the Study of
Life in the Universe (LITU).

Comments MacArthur Award winner Dr. Christopher Chyba,
Director and Carl Sagan Chair holder in the LITU center,
“Barry is an accomplished, world-renowned biologist and an
established leader in the astrobiology community. We
benefited from his participation in our working group, and
are pleased that he has strengthened his commitment to the
Institute through Board membership.”

Blumberg is the latest addition to a distinguished
assemblage of science, technology, and business leaders that
comprise the Institute’s Board of Trustees, and he assumes
his new role at a time of critical growth for the
organization. “The SETI Institute is unique within the
space science community,” he notes, “for the way it
addresses the full spectrum of questions posed by
astrobiology. I look forward to helping guide the SETI
Institute’s efforts.”

Blumberg holds a medical degree from Columbia University,
New York City as well as a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Oxford
University where, between 1989 and 1994, he was Master of
Balliol College. Blumberg is perhaps best known for his
Nobel Prize-winning work that led to the invention of a
vaccine for hepatitis B. The vaccine prevents acute and
chronic hepatitis as well as primary cancer of the liver.
It is the first widely used preventative cancer vaccine.
Holding honorary degrees from many universities and
colleges, Blumberg is also a member or fellow of several
professional associations, including the National Academy of
Sciences, the American Society of Human Genetics and the
American Philosophical Society.

Chairman of the SETI Institute’s Board of Trustees and SETI
pioneer Dr. Frank Drake remarks, “Biologists often
accompanied sailing expeditions in the Golden Age of
Exploration. Adding Dr. Blumberg to the SETI Institute
Board is the right thing to do as we pursue our exploration
of the cosmos. Like many fine scientists whose work touches
on SETI, Barry has a fascination for exploration that rests
on a solid foundation of humanism and compassion.”

Founded in 1984, the interdisciplinary SETI Institute is a
private 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization dedicated to
research and education exploring the origin, nature, and
prevalence of life in the universe. Since inception, the
SETI Institute has been a leader in SETI research and
remains the only research organization dedicated to the
comprehensive investigation of the prospects for all manner
of life, including intelligent life off-Earth.

On-line resources:
Biography and photo of Dr. Baruch S. Blumberg: url (TBD)
SETI Institute Board of Trustees:
http://www.seti.org/about_us/leadership/Welcome.html