UCI professor earns high honor, respect

In sporting terms, R. Duncan Luce got his call to the hall.

The longtime UC Irvine professor joined exclusive company recently

when he was one of eight engineers and scientists to be awarded the

National Medal of Science. How exclusive? Luce’s class will make it

417 total recipients of the award, the highest scientific honor in

this country since the award’s inception in 1962.

Luce, 79, will receive his award next month from President Bush in

a White House ceremony alongside peers from such storied institutions

as Johns Hopkins and Stanford.

Within the scientific community, it’s the pinnacle of achievement,

honoring a lifetime of work and research. Luce, who first came to UCI

in 1972, made his mark by using mathematical theory to help explain

individual human behavior. Regarded as a pioneer in the field, he

helped found UCI’s Institute for Mathematical Behavior Sciences in

1988, returning to Orange County after 13 years at Harvard.

Just as impressive is the fact that Luce is the university’s third

National Medal of Science laureate, joining evolutionary biologist

Frederico Ayala (2001) and Nobel Prize-winning physicist Frederick

Reines (1983).

Consider that of the 10 University of California campuses, seven

have National Medal of Science winners. Only UC Berkeley, UCLA and UC

San Diego have more laureates than UCI.

For a school that has continually fought a reputation as a mere

commuter school, the award signifies a growing reputation as an

academic powerhouse. That UCI has reached this point in 40 years is a

significant achievement.

So as you prepare for your day in the White House, Professor Luce,

you should definitely celebrate. You’ve earned it.

And while we’re at it, the UCI community should also celebrate.

It, too, has earned it.