Six Georgia Tech faculty members have been awarded the distinction of AAAS Fellow -- Barry Bozeman, Regents professor in School of Public Policy; James Foley, professor and Stephen Fleming Chair in Telecommunications in College of Computing; James Gole, professor in School of Physics; Charles Liotta, Regents professor in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering; Willie Pearson Jr., professor and chair, School of History , Technology and Society; and Peter J. Webster, professor in School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. Election as a Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.

This year 376 members have been awarded this honor by AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 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 18 from 8 to 10 a.m. at the Fellows Forum during the 2006 AAAS Annual Meeting in St. Louis, Mo.

This year's AAAS Fellows will be announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science on 28 October 2005.

The Fellows from Georgia Tech are:

Peter J. Webster, in the Atmospheric and Hydrospheric Sciences section, for outstanding scientific discoveries of the coupled ocean-atmosphere system and for superior scientific and organizational leadership of international field campaigns.

James L. Gole, in the Chemistry section, for fundamental studies at the interface of chemistry, physics, and materials science in high temperature molecules, laser spectroscopy, sensors, porous silicon, and nanotechnology.

Charles L. Liotta, in the Industrial Science and Technology section, for distinguished contributions to the field of physical organic chemistry and for outstanding leadership and vision in enhancing academic and industrial research partnerships.

James D. Foley, in the Information, Computing, and Communication section, for early contributions to the fields of computer graphics and user interfaces.

Willie Pearson, Jr., in the Social, Economic, and Political Sciences section, for distinguished contributions to the scholarship of diversity in science and for promotion of broadened participation of underserved populations in the sciences.

Barry Bozeman, in the Social Impacts of Science and Engineering Section for distinguished contributions to scholarship, teaching, and mentoring in science and technology policy, particularly for research in evaluating the societal implications of research.

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).