AAAS selects outstanding members to join the ranks of fellows

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) recently said that 489 of its members were named fellows.

The AAAS Fellow badge is a lifetime distinction. Each year, the Council of AAAS selects members who have made significant contributions to STEM disciplines to receive the AAAS Fellow distinction, the association said in a Nov. 24 release. The 2020 group contains members representing each of AAAS's 24 sections.

An induction ceremony will be held remotely for the newly elected fellows on Feb. 13, 2021, the Saturday following the AAAS Annual Meeting, the association said in the release.

Electing outstanding AAAS members to the fellows is a tradition dating back to 1874, the association said in the release. The prestigious ranks of the Fellows include prominent members such as inventor Thomas Edison, sociologist W. E. B. Du Bois, anthropologist Margaret Mead and computer scientist Grace Hopper.

To be considered for the fellow's rank, an AAAS member must be nominated by either three previously elected Fellows, the AAAS section's steering group, or the organization's CEO, the association said in the release. Nominees undergo a two-step review process before having their nominations reviewed by the steering groups in their section and the AAAS Council voting on the final list.