TROY, N.Y. — Angel E. Garcia, a renowned theoretical physicist in biomolecular research, has been appointed a senior constellation chaired professor in biocomputation and bioinformatics at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Garcia will join Rensselaer on Jan. 1, 2005.

The Biocomputation and Bioinformatics Constellation will focus on developing new computing tools to analyze complex biological data, make predictions to guide experimental work, and offer powerful new methods to predict molecular structure and understand the complex behavior of living organisms.

“Dr. Garcia is a distinguished scientist who is highly regarded for his intellect and scientific leadership,” said Rensselaer President Shirley Ann Jackson. “His interdisciplinary research is truly visionary, and will further enhance the emergent biotechnology programs at Rensselaer, placing us on the cutting edge of research in biocomputation and bioinformatics.”

Garcia is internationally known for his research on mathematical modeling and computational analysis of problems in cellular and molecular biology. He currently leads Los Alamos National Laboratory’s multimillion-dollar research in theoretical biology and biophysics in Los Alamos, N.M.

Garcia will play a lead role in structuring the new biocomputation and bioinformatics research constellation at Rensselaer. This group will conduct research as part of Rensselaer’s new Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies.

At Rensselaer, a constellation is led by outstanding faculty in fields of strategic importance. Each constellation is focused on a specific research arena, and comprises a multidisciplinary mix of senior and junior faculty and postdoctoral and graduate students.

Garcia received a bachelor’s and master’s degree from the University of Puerto Rico and a doctorate in physics from Cornell University. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and a member of the Biophysical Society and the American Chemical Society. He is a past elected executive board member of the American Physical Society’s Division of Biological Physics; an executive committee member of the Center for Non-Linear Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory; and a scientific board member of the Institute for Complex Adaptive Matter at the University of California. Garcia is a member of the editorial board of Biophysical Journal and Molecular Simulations and a member of the Faculty of 1000 for BioMed Central, an online research service that reviews the most interesting papers published in the biological sciences, based on the recommendations of a faculty of more than 1,000 selected leading researchers. He is also a past member of the scientific review committee for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).