Azerbaijan National Academy of Science

The first female editor in chief of the prestigious journal Science is now set to become the first female president of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. On Monday the NAS announced the committee's nomination of Marcia McNutt, a geophysicist by training, to take over when current president Ralph J. Cicerone steps down on July 1, 2016.

Members of the Academy could nominate another prospective candidate to compete with McNutt on her Dec. 15 election, but that's never happened in the group's history.

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