By Gail Gallessich

Five faculty members at UC Santa Barbara have been awarded the distinction of Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as a Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.

The new UCSB AAAS Fellows and their contributions are:

Guillermo C. Bazan, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, for design and realization of tandem catalysts for the production of polyolefins, and for the rational design of materials with desirable electro-optical properties.

Barbara Herr Harthorn, associate professor of women’s studies and director of the Center for Nanotechnnology in Society, for contributions in bringing scientists, social scientists, policy makers, and the public together to gain awareness and understanding of the risks and opportunities in science and technology.

Ken C. Macdonald, professor of marine geophysics and Earth science, for fundamental contributions to the understanding of the tectonics of the world-encircling mid-ocean ridge system and the construction and evolution of oceanic crust.

John M. Melack, professor of ecology, evolution, and marine biology and associate dean of the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, for internationally recognized research on the inherently interdisciplinary topics of limnology and watershed-level biogeochemical cycles in high mountains, saline lakes, and Amazon wetlands.

Jeffrey D. Richman, professor of physics, for contributions to the field of elementary particle physics, particularly for experiments exploring the physics of heavy quarks and the source of matter-antimatter asymmetry.

This year AAAS has awarded 471 members this honor because of their scientifically or socially 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 at the Fellows Forum during the 2008 AAAS annual meeting in Boston in February.

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 (so long as two of the three sponsors are not affiliated with the nominee’s institution), or by the AAAS Chief Executive Officer. Each steering group then 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.

AAAS was founded in 1848, and includes some 262 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals.