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Angel E. Garcia
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Candidate for General Councillor
Biographical Summary
Angel E. Garcia is a professor of Physics at Rensselaer and hold appointments in the Departments of Biology and Chemical Engineering. He received a B.S. and M.S. in Physics from the University of Puerto Rico, and a Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from Cornell University in 1987. He was a staff member in the Theoretical Biology and Biophysics Group at Los Alamos from 1989-2005. At Los Alamos he was Group Leader of the Theoretical Biology and Biophysics group from 2001-2005.
Angel joined Rensselaer as a Chaired Constellation Professor in Biocomputation and Bioinformatics in 2005. Angel E. Garcia is a theoretical and computational biophysicist interested in protein folding and protein dynamics. His research group aims at understanding basic steps in biological processes from physical principles. Recent work includes the development of models that explain the role of high hydrostatic pressure in the unfolding of proteins; the role of denaturants on protein stability, and the development of an atomic model describing the translocation of cell penetrating peptides through lipid bilayers.
Angel is a fellow of the American Physical Society and won the Edward Bouchet Prize of the APS in 2006. He has served in the Committee of Visitors of the Division of Physical Sciences of the National Science Foundation. He has being a member of the Executive Committee of the Division of Biological Physics of the APS; Chair of the Theoretical Chemistry Subdivision of the American Chemical Society; member of the Council of the Biophysical Society; and member of the Nominating Committee of the Protein Society. He is an Associate Editor of Proteins, has served in the Editorial Board of the Biophysical Journal, of Molecular Simulations, and is Member of the Faculty of 1000 for Structural Biology.
Candidate's Statement
Physics is an active and exciting area of research and physicists continue to have major impact in many areas of the sciences, with a large impact being felt in the development of quantitative biology. However, the education of physics has not changed much since I was a graduate student almost 30 years ago. We still use the same textbooks, and use the same examples to convey the basic principles. At the same time the biological sciences have become much more sophisticated and the need to combine concepts from chemistry, polymer science, mathematics, and computer sciences grows every day. As physicists we need to continue to be engaged in multidisciplinary research and to train the new generation of physicists to be ready for these challenges. The APS serves as a conduit for bringing to physicists the latest developments in physics and other related areas. As a councilor I will advocate the involvement of the APS in promoting and disseminating the role of physics in interdisciplinary research and in society.
