George Gilchrist named as AAAS 2012 Fellow
Washington D.C.—George Gilchrist, Biology Department Emeritus Professor, has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as a AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers. Dr. Gilchrist currently works as an appointment to the National Science Foundation as Program Director for its Division of Environmental Biology.
This year 702 members have been awarded this honor by AAAS 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 on Saturday, 16 February from 8 to 10 a.m. at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2013 AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston, Mass.
This year’s AAAS Fellows were formally announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science on 30 November 2012.
As part of the section for Biological Sciences, Dr. Gilchrist was elected as an AAAS Fellow for distinguished contributions to the study of contemporary evolution of physiological performance, plasticity and adaptation in insect populations experiencing changing climatic conditions.
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.
The Council is the policymaking body of the Association, chaired by the AAAS president, and consisting 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.
