Tom Truskett, Cockrell School of Engineering professor and chair of the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, and three other University of Texas at Austin faculty members have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world's largest general scientific society. This year’s AAAS fellows – members of the College of Natural Sciences, the College of Pharmacy, the College of Liberal Arts and the Cockrell School – will be inducted at a ceremony during the AAAS Annual Meeting, which is scheduled to take place for the first time in Austin in February.
Fellows of the AAAS are elected by peers in their areas of science in recognition of their scientifically or socially distinguished work to advance science or its applications. This year, 396 members have been selected for this honor by AAAS, an organization known for its publication of Science and other journals that reach nearly 10 million scientists worldwide.
The four UT Austin 2017 AAAS fellows have been elected from areas ranging from alcohol research to mathematics education and beyond:
- Rueben A. Gonzales (College of Pharmacy, Department of Psychology) For distinguished contributions to the field of alcohol research, particularly using neurochemical methods to elucidate mechanisms of action that underlie behavioral effects of ethanol.
- Michael J. Krische (Department of Chemistry) For distinguished contributions to the field of metal catalysis and chemical synthesis, particularly for pioneering studies on hydrogen-mediated C-C bond formation.
- Philip M. “Uri” Treisman (Department of Mathematics, Dana Center for Science and Mathematics Education) For distinguished contributions to practices, tools and policies that increase equity and excellence in mathematics learning, and for leadership to expand engagement in this goal.
- Thomas M. Truskett (McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, Department of Physics) For distinguished contributions to our understanding of the structure and dynamics of complex fluids and biomolecular systems through use of computational methods.
All fellows will be formally announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science on Nov. 24, and the new fellows will be inducted at a Feb. 17, 2018, ceremony.
