President Barack Obama has appointed School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Dean Cherry A. Murray to a national commission tasked with providing recommendations to prevent future spills that result from offshore drilling.

The creation of the commission comes on the heels of a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico—considered the largest offshore spill in U.S. history—that resulted from a Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion in April.

Murray, who was named one of the "50 Most Important Women in Science" by Discover Magazine in 2002, has served on numerous national and international scientific advisory committees and possesses extensive administrative and academic experience.

The other members of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling include Frances G. Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council; Donald Boesch, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science; Terry D. Garcia, excutive vice president for mission programs for the National Geographic Society; and Frances Ulmer, chancellor of the University of Alaska Anchorage.

"These individuals bring tremendous expertise and experience to the critical work of this commission," Obama is quoted in a Washington press release. "I am grateful they have agreed to serve as we work to determine the causes of this catastrophe and implement the safety and environmental protections we need to prevent a similar disaster from happening again."