Four Georgia Tech faculty members have been awarded the distinction of AAAS Fellow - Evans M. Harrell II, associate dean of College of Sciences and professor, School of Mathematics; Boris Mizaikoff, associate professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Nancy Nersessian, professor of cognitive science appointed jointly in the School of Public Policy and the College of Computing; and Zhong Lin Wang, Regents' professor in the School of Materials Science and Engineering and College of Engineering Distinguished Professor. Election as a Fellow is an honor bestowed upon American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) members by their peers.

This year 449 members have been awarded this honor by AAAS because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. New Fellows will be presented with an official certificate and a gold and blue (representing science and engineering, respectively) rosette pin on Saturday, February 17 from 8 to 10 a.m. at the Fellows Forum during the 2007 AAAS Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

This year's AAAS Fellows will be announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science on 24 November 2006.

The 2006 Fellows from Georgia Tech are:

Nancy Nersessian, in the section on Education, for shaping our understanding of scientific creativity and developing new methods for analyzing historical accounts of scientific innovations.

Zhong Lin (Z.L.) Wang, in the section on Engineering, for seminal contributions to the discovery, synthesis, understanding, and applications of novel one-dimensional nanomaterials. His work has impacted materials science, microscopy, and nanotechnology.

Boris Mizaikoff, in the section on Industrial Science and Technology, for building bridges with industry through his academic research in sensors and for facilitating technology transfer between academia and industry.

Evans M. Harrell II, in the section on Mathematics, for contributions to the study of spectra associated with partial differential equations, particularly gaps and lower bounds for eigenvalues of Schrödinger operators.

The tradition of AAAS Fellows began in 1874. Currently, members can be considered for the rank of Fellow if nominated by the Steering Groups of the Association's 24 sections, or by any three Fellows who are current AAAS members (so long as two of the three sponsors are not affiliated with the nominee's institution), or by the AAAS Chief Executive Officer.

Each Steering Group then reviews the nominations of individuals within its respective section and a final list is forwarded to the AAAS Council, which votes on the aggregate list.

The Council is the policymaking body of the Association, chaired by the AAAS President, and consisting of the members of the Board of Directors, the Retiring Section Chairs, delegates from each electorate and each regional division, and two delegates from the National Association of Academies of Science.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journal, Science (www.sciencemag.org). The non-profit AAAS (http://www.aaas.org) is open to all and fulfills its mission to 'advance science and serve society' through initiatives in science policy; international programs; science education; and more.