James F. O'Connell, a University of Utah anthropologist interested in the diet of hunter-gatherer societies, is the latest Utahn elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

Recently, the academy announced the election of 72 new members and 18 foreign associates from 16 countries. They were chosen "in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research," says a news release from the academy.

Ralph Cicerone, president of the academy, was quoted as saying that election to the group "is considered one of the highest honors in American science and engineering."

Established by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, the academy is a private organization that advises the federal government on science and technology. This year's crop brings membership to 2,013 Americans and 371 foreign associates.

O'Connell, a professor, is director of the U.'s Archaeological Center and is the chairman of the department of anthropology. But he said his term with the rotating chairmanship ends this month.

O'Connell's election means that three of the 14 full-time faculty members in the anthropology department are members of the academy, according to his statement in a university press release.

Born and raised in San Francisco, O'Connell earned his bachelor's and Ph.D. degrees at the University of California, Berkeley. He has been at the U. since 1978.

"I've done field work in western North America and in Australia and in East Africa," he said in a telephone interview. His dissertation was about Great Basin archaeology, focusing on archaeology in northeastern California near the Nevada border and covering the past 6,000 years until the arrival of Europeans.

"Most of my work has been on the study of the economics of people who make their living by foraging, by hunting and gathering," he said. That is, "the diet of hunters."

O'Connell's research in Australia involves both ethnography and archaeology, while in East Africa, it's ethnography. Field work in this country has been in archaeology.

Nobody may apply to become a member of the academy. Nominations can only be submitted by a present member, says the organization's Web site, www.nasonline.org. Balloting in which the members vote on nominees is held during the group's annual meeting in April.

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E-mail: bau@desnews.com