14
December
2009
|
18:00 PM
America/New_York

Ohio State Leads Country In AAAS Fellows Named, Again!

[Embargoed for release until 2 PM ET, Thursday, December 17, 2009 to coincide with publication in the journal Science.]

OHIO STATE LEADS COUNTRY IN AAAS FELLOWS NAMED, AGAIN!

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Seventeen faculty and staff at Ohio State University have been named as Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the largest group chosen from any single university in the country to receive this honor.

The list of 531 researchers, scientists and scholars receiving this designation was published in the current issue of the journal Science.  AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific and is the publisher of Science.

The Ohio State contingent of new Fellows includes a physicist, geologist, neuroscientist, geneticist, mathematician, astronomer, microbiologist, geographer and other scholars, including the university’s president, E. Gordon Gee.


For the past eight years, Ohio State has been either first or second among institutions having the most AAAS Fellows named per year.


“Ohio State has a long tradition as home to many world-renowned experts from dozens of academic disciplines," he said.

“I am humbled to be included among this group of distinguished scholars and researchers.  Our responsibility to the people of Ohio, the nation and the world is to provide an environment in which leading-edge scholarship flourishes to address pressing human needs.”

For the past eight years, Ohio State has been either first or second among institutions having the most AAAS Fellows named per year.  This year’s awardees, their affiliations and citations, include:

Gordon J. Aubrecht, II, physics: For distinguished contributions in theoretical particle physics, for physics education research, for making contemporary physics more accessible to students and teachers, and for contributions to standards. Anne E. Carey, earth sciences: For important contributions to the linkages between geochemical and hydrological processes. Ing-Ming Chiu, internal medicine and molecular and cellular biochemistry and molecular genetics: For contributions to the field of FGF signaling, particularly in developing neural stem cells and micropatterned conduits to repair sciatic nerve injury. Ross E. Dalbey, chemistry: For his major contributions in the area of membrane chemistry, defining the structure and function of signal peptidase 1 in bacteria and discovering the YidC translocase in bacteria. E. Gordon Gee, university president: For distinguished contribution to higher education, serving as president for five universities and for being among the most highly experienced and respected university presidents in the nation. Jeffrey S. Grabmeier, University Communications: For uncommon skill in communicating the social sciences in ways that successfully bridge the gap of understanding between what scientists uncover and what interests the public. Erich Grotewold, plant cellular and molecular biology: For distinguished contributions in the field of plant regulation of gene expression, particularly in the areas of control of plant metabolism and plant development. J. Craig Jenkins, sociology: For distinguished contributions to understanding social protest, social movements, and nonprofit political advocacy, and early warning of political crises and humanitarian disasters. Mei-Po Kwan, geography: For her distinguished contributions to the field of geography. Shili Lin, statistics: For outstanding methodological and collaborative research regarding the analysis of genetic and omic data, for excellence in mentoring, and for leadership in the profession. Jeffery D. McNeal, mathematics: For widely-recognized contributions to research in real and complex analysis, partial differential equations and differential geometry, and for administrative service to Princeton and to Ohio State University. Karin Musier-Forsyth, chemistry and biochemistry: For distinguished contributions in tRNA aminoacylation and the function of tRNA in HIV biology. Patrick S. Osmer, astronomy and The Graduate School: For pioneering searches for quasars that established their rapid evolution with cosmic time and for enormous leadership contributions to observational astronomy in the United States. John N. Reeve, microbiology: For distinguished contributions to the field of microbiology, particularly for development of molecular and genetic techniques for analysis of the methanogenic Archaea and other extremophiles. Mohammad Samimy, mechanical engineering: For distinguished contributions to the understanding of compressible turbulence and for the development and application of advanced laser-based flow diagnostics and control technologies to aerospace applications. Virginia M. Sanders, molecular virology, immunology, and medical genetics: For distinguished contributions to the fields of molecular immunology and pharmacology for the study of lymphocyte regulation by norepinephrine and beta2-adrenergic receptor simulation. David Hal Weinberg, astronomy: For distinguished contributions to the field of cosmology, particularly our understanding of dark matter and its role in formation of galaxies and other gaseous structures.

This year's election brings the total number of Ohio State faculty designated as AAAS fellows in past years to 177.

#

Contact:  Earle M. Holland, (614) 292-8384; Holland.8@osu.edu.