Six Penn researchers were elected to the American Association for the Advancement’s 2023 class of Science Honorary Fellows.
The rank of AAAS Honorary Fellow marks “achievements across disciplines, from research, teaching, and technology, to administration in academia, industry and government, to excellence in communicating and interpreting science to the public,” according to its website.
The AAAS fellowship election process begins with a nomination by one of the 24 steering committees, which each correspond to a field of science, by three existing Fellows or the AAAS CEO. The AAAS council then elects nominees in a tradition dating back to the award’s founding in 1874.
The 2024 class marks the 150th class in the organization’s history, with notable past AAAS fellows including Thomas Edison and W.E.B. Du Bois. Over 500 new scientists and engineers will join the Fellows’ ranks this year, according to the AAAS announcement.
Penn faculty have seen consistently high representation within the ranks of the AAAS Fellows, with the 2022 class featuring 10 Penn faculty. The six Honorary Fellows span a range of Penn's schools, from Penn Medicine to the Wharton School.
Dolores Albarracín is the Alexandra Heyman Nash University Professor and director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center's Science of Science Communication Division. She was recognized for her research on her contributions to public and effective communication.
Tony Cai is a data and statistics professor in Wharton who was honored for his contributions to the field of mathematical statistics. Noam Cohen, the Ralph Butler Professor for Medical Research in the Perelman School of Medicine, received the AAAS distinction for his research on immunology regarding upper airway diseases.
Biology professor Michael Lampson was recognized for contributing to cell biology, chromosome segregation, and inheritance. AAAS honored Roseman, Tarte, Harrow, and Shaffer Families’ President’s Distinguished Professor of Medicine Edward Stadtmauer for his research on medical oncology. Joseph Bordogna Professor of Engineering and Applied Science Shu Yang, who is interested in the synthesis and assembly of soft composite materials. was the sixth Penn researcher to be recognized.
Fellows will be celebrated on Sept. 21 by being awarded with a certificate and pin, along with a celebration of the Honorary Fellowship Program’s sesquicentennial anniversary in Washington, DC.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
Donate