SEATTLE, WA – The Washington State Academy of Sciences (WSAS) announced today the election of six WSAS members for new terms on its Board of Directors: two new officers, two new board members, and two returning board members. Officers serve two-year terms and board members serve three-year terms. The board guides the implementation of WSAS’s mission, sets its strategic priorities, and provides oversight. Per WSAS bylaws, the Board of Directors is elected from the membership, by the membership.

New positions begin after WSAS’s fall board meeting on October 9, 2025.

New officers include President-elect Doug Call, Senior Vice Provost and Regents Professor at Washington State University (WSU); and Secretary Ljiljana Paša-Tolić, Laboratory Fellow and Lead Scientist at Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Call will serve as President-elect through October 2026 at which time he will become WSAS President. Call was elected to WSAS in 2017 and to the Board of Directors in 2021. He previously served as board secretary. Paša-Tolić has served as WSAS’s interim secretary since March 2025. She was elected to WSAS in 2021 and to the Board in 2022.

“Washington needs trusted, actionable science to inform decision making across a wide range of challenges from healthcare to natural resources and manufacturing,” said Call. “WSAS members bring deep expertise across these and many other disciplines, and a commitment to objectivity that is essential for growing bipartisan consensus and public trust. As president, I will ensure the Academy remains committed to excellence and objectivity, and work to showcase the value of our contributions to all Washingtonians.”

Call and Paša-Tolić will join President Allison Campbell and Treasurer Jonathan Yoder on the executive committee.

New board members include Rita Fuchs, Professor of Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience at WSU and David Takeuchi, Associate Dean for Faculty Excellence at the University of Washington (UW). Fuchs was elected to WSAS in 2021 for elucidating the neuroanatomical, pharmacological, and cellular mechanisms of drug-seeking behavior and drug memory reconsolidation in non-human animals and for leading state-wide efforts to promote addiction research. She currently serves as director of WSU’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Program. She is an elected fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, and elected member of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve on the WSAS Board,” said Fuchs. “In a time of often intentional misinformation, WSAS is a unique source of evidence-based information about health and disease, our environment, and the economy. I look forward to working with our members and partners in the state to identify and discuss the scientific and technical needs and opportunities where WSAS can add value and bring clarity.”

Takeuchi was elected to WSAS in 2012. He is a sociologist who has written extensively on issues related to health disparities in society. He is an elected member of the Sociological Research Association and the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. He has received numerous awards including most recently the Leonard Pearlin Award for Distinguished Contributions of the Sociological Study of Health from the American Sociological Association (ASA), the Carl A. Taube Lifetime Achievement Award for Mental Health Services Research from the American Public Health Association, and the Diversity and Inclusion Award from the American Public Opinion Research. He currently serves on the Committee on Populations for the National Academy of Sciences.

Said Takeuchi, “I’m honored to join the WSAS Board and look forward to working with the Board and other members to highlight the contributions that scientific research makes to our communities and to encourage the next generation to enter careers in the sciences, including the social sciences.”

Current board members Michael Goodchild, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Julie A. Kmec, Chair and Professor of Sociology at WSU, were re-elected for a second term.

“Congratulations to those newly elected and those continuing their service on the WSAS Board,” said Allison Campbell, WSAS president and chair of the board. “We are fortunate to have such an engaged and active board consisting of leaders who bring deep expertise, diverse perspectives, and a shared commitment to advance science in service to Washington state.”

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