Seven WSU faculty named AAAS fellows

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Seven Washington State University faculty have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.

 

They will be presented with an official certificate and a rosette pin of gold and blue, representing science and engineering, at the 2012 AAAS annual meeting in Vancouver, B.C., in February.

 

This year’s 539 fellows also will be formally announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science on Dec. 23.

 

WSU’s new AAAS fellows are:

 

Nancy Magnuson, professor of molecular biosciences, for distinguished contributions to cancer research, particularly for studies elucidating the function of the proto-oncogene PIM1 and its role in promoting cancer cell survival.
Thomas E. Besser, professor of veterinary microbiology and pathology, for distinguished contributions to pre-harvest food safety by elucidating critical insights on E. coli O157:H7 and multi-drug resistant bacteria in animal reservoirs.
B.W. “Joe” Poovaiah, Regents professor of horticulture and landscape architecture, for distinguished contributions to plant science, particularly for recognizing the significance of calcium/calmodulin-mediated signaling in plant growth, plant-microbe interactions and plant defense.
Kirk A. Peterson, professor of chemistry, for distinguished contributions to the field of computational quantum chemistry, particularly for the development of basis sets covering the periodic table and reliable property predictions.
Hussein M. Zbib, professor of mechanical and materials engineering, for distinguished contributions to the field of mechanics and materials science and engineering, particularly for multi-scale theoretical modeling and predictions of the thermo-mechanical behavior of advanced nanomaterials.
Gerald E. Edwards, professor of biological sciences, for leadership in the study of photosynthesis and its relation to crop improvement, including the effects of environmental stress and potential global climate change.
Karl T. Mueller, adjunct chemistry faculty and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) lead scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, for distinguished contributions to the field of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, particularly applications of novel methods to understand complex materials and environmental systems.

 

The tradition of AAAS fellows began in 1874.

 

The AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society. It is publisher of the journal Science as well as Science Translational Medicine and Science Signaling.