UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Five Penn State faculty members have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The 2017 Fellows are Robert Levenson, distinguished professor of pharmacology and neural and behavioral sciences, College of Medicine; Runze Li, Verne M. Willaman Professor of Statistics, Eberly College of Science; Leslie J. Parent, professor of medicine and microbiology and immunology, vice dean for research and graduate studies, College of Medicine, and associate vice president for health sciences research, Penn State; K. Sandeep Prabhu; professor of immunology and molecular toxicology, College of Agricultural Sciences; and Raymond E. Schaak, DuPont Professor of Materials Chemistry, Eberly College of Science.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is the world's largest general scientific society and the publisher of the journal Science. Election as a AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon members by their peers. This year, 396 Fellows were selected for their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. The Fellows will receive certificates and pins on Feb. 17, during the 2018 AAAS annual meeting in Austin, Texas.
Levenson was named for distinguished contributions in the area of signaling pathways, particularly with respect to dopamine and opioid receptor signaling, and in education administration.
Li becomes a Fellow for distinguished contributions to the field of statistics and statistical applications, particularly in high-dimensional data analysis, and for an outstanding record on teaching, mentoring, and professional service.
Parent receives her award for distinguished contributions to the field of virology, particularly in the area of retrovirus replication and assembly.
Prabhu becomes a Fellow for distinguished research discoveries on the role of selenium and oxidative stress in biology and human health.
Schaak becomes a Fellow for distinguished contributions to the field of materials synthesis, particularly for the development of new methods to synthesize nanocrystalline solids with targeted structures and properties.