Karen S. Cook, the Ray Lyman Wilbur Professor of Sociology; Director of the Institute for Research in the Social Sciences; Vice-Provost for Faculty Development and Diversity at Stanford University; and Class V Secretary, National Academy of Sciences, has been unanimously elected to the role of Chair of the Board at Annual Reviews, effective June 1, 2018.
Dr. Cook has served as Co-Editor of the Annual Review of Sociology since 1998, and as Vice-Chair of the Annual Reviews Board of Directors since 2010, a position also held by Dr. Sandra M. Faber, Professor and Astronomer, University of California, Santa Cruz. Dr. Cook conducts research on social interaction, social networks, social exchange, and trust. She has authored and co-authored numerous reviews and papers, as well as edited a number of books in the Russell Sage Foundation Trust Series.
She succeeds Professor Richard N. Zare, the Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor in Natural Science, Department of Chemistry, Stanford University, who has led the Board for 23 years, from 1995 to 2018. Professor Zare also served as the Co-Editor of the Annual Review of Analytical Chemistry from 2006 to 2010. He has co-authored numerous reviews, including two autobiographies. Professor Zare is renowned for his research in the area of laser chemistry, which has led to numerous awards and honors.
During his tenure, in partnership with Dr. Samuel Gubins, President and Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of Annual Reviews (1995 to 2015), Professor Zare expanded Annual Reviews to many fields while maintaining the highest standards. Annual Reviews continues to be a unique and impactful publisher as a result of his guidance and leadership.
Dr. Richard Gallagher, President and Editor-in-Chief of Annual Reviews, said,
“Passing the baton from Dick to Karen offers a seamless progression of leadership for our Board. Dick’s long-lasting passion for and contributions to our mission—to synthesize scientific knowledge so that investigators can plan new and impactful research directions—will continue through a new lecture series named in his honor and his ongoing participation in the Board. The role of Board Chair is now in another pair of excellent hands. On behalf of the Board, Editorial Committees, and staff of Annual Reviews, I congratulate Karen and look forward to continuing our working relationship for many years to come.”
Annual Reviews is a nonprofit publisher dedicated to synthesizing and integrating knowledge to stimulate the progress of science and benefit society. For more than 85 years, Annual Reviews has offered expert review journals which today span 50 titles across the biomedical, life, physical, and social sciences. Annual Reviews launched Knowable Magazine in 2017, an open access digital magazine to explore the real-world significance of this highly cited scholarship and make it accessible to broad audiences.