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Alexandra Minna Stern, dean of the UCLA College Division of Humanities, has been elected to the Society of American Historians. The honor is a recognition of the excellence and import of her historical writing, which has covered subjects including the uses and misuses of genetics in the U.S. and Latin America.

“I’m delighted to be invited to join this esteemed and creative group of historians, scholars and artists,” Stern said. “It’s especially gratifying to know that the society recognizes interdisciplinary scholars like myself.”

The Society of American Historians elects members based on achievement in the presentation of history and biography in books, essays, film, drama, museum exhibitions and other forms of public communication. The society recognizes “excellence in historical work marked, among other qualities, by clarity, empathy, narrative power, accuracy and explanatory force,” according to its website.

Stern’s award-winning “Eugenic Nation: Faults and Frontiers of Better Breeding in Modern America” (University of California Press, 2005; second edition 2015), examines the surprisingly broad reach of eugenics in the U.S. throughout the 20th century. She also is the author of “Telling Genes: The Story of Genetic Counseling in America” (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012), which was named a Choice 2013 Outstanding Academic Title in Health Sciences.

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Photo credit: Todd Cheney