21 leading Indian-origin scientists elected as Fellows of American body

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This Nov. 26, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, AAAS, announced 443 leading scientists in various fields have earned the lifetime distinction of AAAS Fellow. Twenty one of these are of Indian origin.

Fellows are elected each year by their peers serving on the Council of AAAS, the organization’s member-run governing body. The 2019 group will receive official certificates and rosette pins in gold and blue, colors symbolizing science and engineering, in a ceremony on Feb. 15, 2020, during the AAAS Annual Meeting in Seattle, a press release from AAAS said.

The 443 newly elected Fellows represent each of AAAS’s 24 sections, from neuroscience and psychology to social, economic and political sciences. The honor recognizes diverse accomplishments, including pioneering research, leadership within a given field, teaching and mentoring, fostering collaborations and advancing public understanding of science.

The tradition of electing AAAS Fellows began in 1874, and include household names such as Thomas Edison. Two of the 2019 Nobel laureates announced last month, James Peebles and John B. Goodenough, are AAAS Fellows. In order to be considered for the rank of Fellow, a AAAS member must be nominated by three previously elected Fellows, the steering group of a AAAS section, or the organization’s CEO. Nominations go through a rigorous process, and the organization says it encourages its sections and Council to consider diversity among those nominated and selected as Fellows, in keeping with the association’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

The following are Indian-origin AAAS Fellows inducted in 2019:

SECTION ON BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

  Kanwarpal Singh Dhugga, International Center for Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT) (Mexico)

  Justin P. Kumar, Indiana University

  Harmit Singh Malik, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

  Kirankumar S. Mysore, Noble Research Institute, LLC

  Aleem Siddiqui, University of California, San Diego

SECTION ON CHEMISTRY

  Krishnan Raghavachari, Indiana University

SECTION ON ENGINEERING

  Avinash Kumar Agarwal, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (India)

  Rajeevan Amirtharajah, University of California, Davis

  Ravi Bellamkonda, Duke University

  Ashutosh Chilkoti, Duke University

  Guru Madhavan, National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine

  Vinothan N. Manoharan, Harvard University

  Gopal R. Rao, Materials Research Society (MRS)

  Asok Ray, Pennsylvania State University

SECTION ON INFORMATION, COMPUTING AND COMMUNICATION

  Noshir S. Contractor, Northwestern University

  Sampath Kannan, University of Pennsylvania

SECTION ON MATHEMATICS

  Kavita Ramanan, Brown University

SECTION ON MEDICAL SCIENCES

  Subbarao Bondada, University of Kentucky

SECTION ON NEUROSCIENCE

  Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath, Centre for Brain Research, Indian Institute of Science (India)

  Piali Sengupta, Brandeis University

SECTION ON STATISTICS

  Nandini Kannan, Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF)