University of New Mexico Professors Nitant Kenkre and Maggie Werner-Washburne were recently elected to the rank of AAAS Fellow. The American Association for the Advancement of Science is the world’s largest general scientific society. Election as a Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.
This year, AAAS has awarded 376 members this honor because of their distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. New Fellows will be presented with an official certificate and a gold and blue (representing science and engineering, respectively) rosette pin on at the Fellows Forum during the 2006 AAAS annual meeting in St. Louis, Mo. in February.
Kenkre, who came to UNM in 1984, was recently named as a Distinguished Professor of Physics at UNM. He is also director of the Consortium of the Americas for Interdisciplinary Science. Kenkre was elected AAAS Fellow in the physics section for fundamental work on quantum transport theory, for applications of statistical mechanics to epidemiology, and for contributions to international science collaborations between the U.S. and Latin America. In 1998, Kenkre was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society for physics research.
“The citation recognizes creative work in actual research as well as creative work in the international collaborations work,” said Kenkre. “I am surprised and honored by this election to Fellowship.”
Werner-Washburne, who has been at UNM since 1988, is a biology professor. She was elected Fellow in the biological sciences section for research on the biochemistry, molecular biology and genomics of quiescent state in baker's yeast, and for efforts to increase the representation of underrepresented minorities in the sciences.
Dr. Werner-Washburne has earned numerous awards during her career, including the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Math and Engineering Mentoring awarded in 2004.
“This award was a complete surprise,” said Werner-Washburne. “It is such an honor to be recognized by ones peers for work that has been so rewarding in itself. I have been lucky to have great colleagues and students here at UNM, Sandia and elsewhere, and I am happy for whatever honor this brings to New Mexico.”
Founded in 1848, AAAS includes some 262 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. The organization also publishes, Science magazine, which has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world with an estimated total readership of one million. The tradition of AAAS Fellows began in 1874.
Contact: Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821; e-mail: scarr@unm.edu
Posted by scarr at November 2, 2005 05:14 PM