After winning the 2013 People’s Republic of China Friendship Award last fall, University Professor Michael Waterman has been elected a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The professor of biological sciences, computer science and mathematics at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences is among nine foreign members from seven countries to be elected to the academy in 2013 and one of two Americans not of Chinese origin. He has a joint appointment with the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. “I’ve always been intrigued by China,” said Waterman, holder of the USC Associates Chair in Natural Sciences. “There is a long tradition of scholarship and learning, and the country is emerging to make important scientific contributions. Chinese students are important for graduate programs in the U.S. and Europe, and it’s gratifying to see science and mathematics rapidly develop in China.”