U of T faculty honoured by American Association for the Advancement of Science

Ten University of Toronto researchers have been elected Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest science society and publisher of the prestigious journal, Science.

The association was founded in 1848 and the tradition of AAAS Fellows began in 1874. Fellows are nominated from among the association’s  membership – it includes 262 affiliated societies and academies of science worldwide -- and approved by the AAAS Council. Fellowship is a prestigious honour, granted for meritorious efforts to advance science or its applications. The council elected 539 fellows this year.

“The outstanding U of T researchers selected as fellows of AAAS exemplify the breadth and depth of the research done at our institution,” said President David Naylor. “Their work ranges from highly theoretical to intensely applied, and all valuable contributions to our world. I congratulate these distinguished colleagues on behalf of the entire university community.”

The new U of T fellows are:
Biological Sciences:
• Professor Daphne Goring of cell and systems biology, elected for distinguished contributions to the field of plant mating systems, in particular for elucidating novel cellular mechanisms governing pollen discrimination.

Engineering:
• Professor Sanjeev Chandra of mechanical and industrial engineering, elected for distinguished research contributions on the dynamics of droplets and sprays and the advancement of thermal spray coating technology through the Centre for Advanced Coating Technologies.

• Professor Andrew Goldenberg of mechanical and industrial engineering and the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, elected for contributions to the robotics field by way of sustaining a leading academic career in parallel with founding and leading innovative robotics and automation commercial enterprises.

• Professor Chul Park of mechanical and industrial engineering, elected for distinguished contributions to the field of microcellular plastics through his research, his development of more than 20 patented technologies and his creation of international consortia.

• University Professor Michael Sefton of chemical engineering and applied chemistry and the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, elected for distinguished contributions to tissue engineering, particularly the microencapsulation of live cells and combining live cells and synthetic materials to create artificial tissue.

• Professor Paul Young of civil engineering, U of T’s vice-president (research), elected for distinguished contributions to research and technological advances in rock mechanics and geophysics and an exemplary record of service in academic administration.

Information, Computing and Communication:
• University Professor Allan Borodin of computer science, elected for distinguished contributions to theoretical computer science.

• Professor Hector Levesque of computer science, elected for distinguished contributions to artificial intelligence, especially advances in knowledge representation and reasoning, multi-agent systems and cognitive robotics.

Medical Sciences:
• Professor Eleftherios Diamandis of laboratory medicine and pathobiology and director of the Advanced Centre for Detection of Cancer, elected for distinguished contributions to the field of genomics and pathobiology of serine proteases, especially the kallikrein family, and their application as diagnostic cancer biomarkers.

Physics:
• Professor Pekka Sinervo of physics, elected for his significant contributions to our understanding of the fundamental particles and their interactions and for outstanding leadership in research and academia.

The new fellows will be honoured Feb. 18 at the 2012 AAAS annual meeting in Vancouver.