Election as an AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers
Two Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute scientists have been honored as 2020 Fellows by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Eva Engvall, PhD, MD h.c., professor emerita; and Hudson Freeze, PhD, professor and director of the Human Genetics Program, were named Fellows in a vote by the AAAS Council.
This year, 489 members have been awarded this honor by AAAS because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.
This year’s AAAS Fellows will be formally announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science on November 27, 2020. A virtual Fellows Forum—an induction ceremony for the new Fellows—will be held on February 13, 2021.
As part of the Biological Sciences section, Engvall was elected for distinguished contributions to molecular biology, particularly the development of the ELISA technique and advancing our understanding of parasitology and tissue biochemistry.
As part of the Medical Sciences Section, Freeze was elected for identifying and characterizing the mechanistic underpinnings of many glycosylation diseases and work toward new treatments.
The tradition of AAAS Fellows began in 1874. Currently, members can be considered for the rank of Fellow if nominated by the steering groups of the Association’s 24 sections, or by any three Fellows who are current AAAS members (as long as two of the three sponsors are not affiliated with the nominee’s institution), or by the AAAS chief executive officer. Fellows must have been continuous members of AAAS for four years by the end of the calendar year in which they are elected. The AAAS Fellow honor comes with an expectation that recipients maintain the highest standards of professional ethics and scientific integrity.
Each steering group reviews the nominations of individuals within its respective section, and a final list is forwarded to the AAAS Council, which votes on the aggregate list.
The Council is the policymaking body of the Association, chaired by the AAAS president, and consists of the members of the board of directors, the retiring section chairs, delegates from each electorate and each regional division, and two delegates from the National Association of Academies of Science.
The AAAS encourages its sections and Council to consider diversity among those nominated and selected as Fellows, in keeping with the Association’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.