Seven Faculty Elected Fellows of AAAS

They join the 150th Fellows class of American Association for the Advancement of Science

Seven headshot photos: Duke's class of AAAS Fellows for 2024: (L-R from top) Steven Asher, Colin Duckett, Chuan-Yuan Li, Kishor Trivedi, Toddi Steelman, Martin Smith, Kate Scholberg.
Duke's class of AAAS Fellows for 2024: (L-R from top) Steven Asher, Colin Duckett, Chuan-Yuan Li, Kishor Trivedi, Toddi Steelman, Martin Smith, Kate Scholberg.

Seven Duke faculty have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Fellowship in AAAS, one of the world’s largest general scientific societies and publisher of the Science family of journals, is a distinguished lifetime honor within the scientific community.

This year’s class is comprised of 502 scientists, engineers and innovators across 24 AAAS disciplinary sections.

"As we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the AAAS Fellows, this year’s class embodies scientific excellence, fosters trust in science throughout the communities they serve, and leads the next generation of scientists while advancing scientific achievements,” said Sudip S. Parikh, Ph.D., AAAS chief executive officer and executive publisher of the Science family of journals.

AAAS first launched this lifetime recognition in 1874, about 25 years after the association was founded. The new Fellows will receive a certificate and a gold and blue rosette pin (representing science and engineering, respectively) to commemorate their election and will be celebrated at a forum in Washington DC on September 21, 2024. 

Biological Sciences

Colin Duckett, Professor of Pathology and Vice Dean for Basic Science in the School of Medicine.

Duckett is being recognized for both his bench work and his administrative leadership, having made “distinguished contributions to the field of immune cell signaling, particularly with regard to control of apoptosis, and for distinguished service in academic administration, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Information, Computing and Communication

Kishor Trivedi, Hudson Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Trivedi is an international expert in software reliability and fault tolerance and is being recognized “forfundamental contributions to software and systems reliability engineering research, practice, and education.”

Medical Sciences

Chuan-Yuan Li, Adjunct Professor and Vice Chair for Research in Dermatology.

Li has found that cells dying due to radiation or chemotherapy send out a signal to their fellow cancer cells to proliferate. He is being honored for “distinguished contributions to the field of radiation and cancer biology, particularly the unconventional roles of caspases in tumor response to chemotherapy or radiotherapy.”

Physics

Kate Scholberg, Arts & Sciences Distinguished Professor of Physics.

Scholberg chases neutrinos, an elusive member of the particle physics family. She is being honored for that work and for finding that these tiny particles oscillate, “the first observation of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering and leadership in the world's neutrino physics program.”

Psychology

Steven Asher, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience.

Asher studies the relationships of children and young adults and is being honored “for distinguished contributions to the area of social development from childhood through young adulthood, particularly for illuminating the important role of friendships in development and psychological functioning.”

Social, Economic and Political sciences

Martin Smith, George M. Woodwell Distinguished Professor of Environmental Economics.

Smith studies the “blue economy,” and is being recognized “for distinguished contributions to the field of environmental economics and ocean studies, particularly for bioeconomics of fisheries, global seafood markets, and coastal climate change adaptation.”

Toddi Steelman, Vice President and Vice Provost, Climate and Sustainability.

A scholar of human responses to wildfires and leader of Duke's campus wide Climate Commitment, Steelman is being honored for “distinguished contributions to advancing environmental science, working at the intersection of science, policy, and decision making, and (being) internationally recognized for how communities and agencies can act effectively.”