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RIVERSIDE, Calif. — www.ucr.edu — The American Association for the Advancement of Science has named 21 UC Riverside faculty members, including the Chancellor and the Dean of the College of Engineering, as 2006 AAAS Fellows.

This represents the largest single-year contingent from the campus. This year’s fellows bring the total number of UCR faculty who has received this distinction to 150.

The AAAS has awarded the Fellowship distinction to 449 of its members this year. They are being recognized for their efforts toward advancing science applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished.

“Congratulations to our outstanding faculty who have been elected to the AAAS,” said Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Ellen Wartella. “It is an important honor and one that the entire UCR community is very proud to recognize. This is just one more example of the excellence of our faculty at UCR.”

New Fellows will receive an official certificate and a gold science or blue engineering rosette pin on Saturday, Feb. 17, at the Fellows Forum during the 2007 AAAS Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

UCR’s 2006 AAAS Fellows are listed below:

BOURNS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

• Reza Abbaschian, Dean of the College of Engineering, professor of mechanical engineering.
  Citation: For contributions in solidification and materials processing in the areas of interfacial kinetics, high temperature intermetallics, composites, and high temperature pressure diamond crystal growth.



• Wilfred Chen, professor of chemical and environmental engineering.
  Citation: For distinguished contributions in environmental biotechnology and biosensing, particularly in the areas of bioremediation and detection of pesticides, heavy metals and infectious pathogens.



• Marc Deshusses, professor and chair in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering.
  Citation: For contributions to environmental biotechnology, particularly for the development of biofilters, biotrickling filters, air pollution controls and bioreactors for the treatment of emerging groundwater contaminants.



• Tao Jiang, professor of computer science and engineering.
  Citation: For distinguished contributions to the field of computational molecular biology and for pioneering work on the incompressibility method.



• Dimitrios Morikis, professor of bioengineering.
  Citation: For advancing comprehensive approaches, involving biophysics, structural biology, computational chemistry and structural bioinformatics, to determine the structure, dynamics, interactions, and function of proteins and peptides.



• Victor G.J. Rodgers, professor of bioengineering.
  Citation: For distinguished contributions to the field of modeling in biomedical engineering and bioseparations with an emphasis on the dynamic aspects of these systems.



• Charles Wyman, professor of chemical and environmental engineering.
  Citation: For distinguished seminal contributions in the biological conversion of cellulose biomass to commodity products, particularly ethanol as a transportation fuel.

COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES, ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

• Christine Ward-Gailey, professor of anthropology and women’s studies.
  Citation: For distinguished contributions to the field of cultural anthropology and gender studies, particularly the study of gender and state formation, kinship theory, and the cultural dynamics of agency.

COLLEGE OF NATURAL AND AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES

• Guy Bertrand, Distinguished Professor of chemistry,
  Citation: For pioneering and distinguished contributions to the field of stable carbenes and other highly reactive intermediates.



• Katherine A. Borkovich, professor of plant pathology
  Citation: For contributions to research in the field of fungal genetics and leadership in teaching and administration.



• France A. Córdova, Chancellor of UC Riverside and professor of astrophysics.
  Citation: For fundamental advances in binary star physics via X-ray observations as well as extensive administrative and policy service to the space science and educational communities.



• Shou-Wei Ding, professor of plant pathology.
  Citation: For contributions to research into viral pathogenesis and host defense, particularly RNA silencing.



• Jodie S. Holt, professor of plant physiology, chair in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences.
  Citation: For contributions to the field of weed science, particularly the development of ecological approaches to management and for leadership in the Weed Science Society of America and at UC, Riverside.



• Bai-Lian Li, professor of ecology, botany and plant sciences.
  Citation: For contributions to the founding of the field of ecological complexity and modeling and for his work on theoretical ecology.



• Umar Mohideen, associate professor of physics.
  Citation: For pioneering research on the nature of quantum vacuum using Casimir force measurements at submicron distances.



• Joseph G. Morse, professor of entomology.
  Citation: For distinguished contributions to integrated pest management research on citrus and avocado in California, in particular, reducing industry reliance on broad-spectrum pesticide use.



• P. Kirk Visscher, associate professor of entomology.
  Citation: For distinguished contributions to our understanding of social behavior, particularly kin recognition and decision-making in animal societies.



• Shizhong Xu, professor of plant genetics.
  Citation: For contributions to the field of quantitative genetics and bioinformatics in both evolutionary theory and agriculture.



• Jory A. Yarmoff, professor of physics.
  Citation: For distinguished contributions to the field of surface physics involving the use of energetic particles to investigate atoms, nanostructures, and films.



• Marylynn V. Yates, Chair in the Department of Environmental Sciences and professor of environmental microbiology.
  Citation: For significant contributions to our understanding of virus detection and behavior in the natural environment and for expert advice on national water quality studies.

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

• Jan Blacher, faculty chair and professor of education.
  Citation: For distinguished contributions to understanding family processes over time, in situations where one or more children are afflicted with severe intellectual disability or dual diagnosis.

The AAAS is the world's largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journal, Science. AAAS was founded in 1848, and includes some 262 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world, with an estimated total readership of 1 million.

The tradition of AAAS Fellows began in 1874. Currently, members can be considered for the rank of Fellow if nominated by the Steering Group of their respective sections, by three Fellows, or by the association's chief executive officer. Each steering group then reviews the nominations of individuals within its respective section and forwards a final list to the AAAS Council, which makes the final decision.

The University of California, Riverside (www.ucr.edu) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment of about 18,000 is expected to grow to 21,000 students by 2020. The campus is planning a medical school and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Graduate Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion.

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