Two Texas Tech University faculty members have joined an elite, highly selective group after receiving one of the most prestigious recognitions in science.
W. Andrew Jackson, a professor and associate chair of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering, and Hongxing Jiang, Horn Professor, the Edward E. Whitacre Jr. chair in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a faculty member in the Texas Tech Nanophotonics Center, have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
AAAS is the world’s largest multidisciplinary scientific society. To be elected an AAAS fellow, an AAAS member must have made scientifically or socially distinguished efforts on behalf of the advancement of science or its applications and have been a continuous member for the four-year period leading up to the year of nomination. A candidate can be nominated by three previously elected fellows who are current AAAS members, so long as two of the three sponsors are not affiliated with the nominee’s institution.
Nominees must have made significant contributions in research; teaching; technology; services to professional societies; administration in academia, industry and government; or communicating and interpreting science to the public.
“I think it is safe to say in Texas Tech’s nearly 100-year history, fewer than 20 faculty have ever been elected fellows,” said Todd Anderson, interim director of The Institute of Environmental and Human Health and one of three AAAS fellows who nominated Jackson. With Jackson and Jiang, 10 current AAAS fellows are now Texas Tech faculty members.
Other current AAAS fellows are:
- Todd Anderson, biological sciences
- Sankar Chatterjee, geology and geography
- William Hase, chemistry
- Todd Little, psychology
- Duane Nellis, geology and geography
- Danny Reible, engineering
- Robert Shaw, chemistry
- Ruiwen Zhang, pharmaceutical sciences
“It is a privilege and honor that our work performed in the Nanophotonics Center at Texas Tech has been recognized by the broader community such as AAAS,” Jiang said.
The center conducts research and development on manipulation of photons-electrons in nanoscale materials for innovative photonic devices and emerging technologies. Its research areas cover a broad spectrum and deal with state-of-the-art nanoscale material synthesis, fundamental physics, device fabrication and testing.
Jackson said he would like to think his group has made a significant advance in the understanding of perchlorate production and fate in the environment and, to a lesser extent, the solar system.
“This work has had significant implications to society in relation to both practical aspects such as innovative remediation technologies as well as regulatory processes by defining the role of natural perchlorate,” Jackson said. “It also has had some interesting implications to our basic understanding of atmospheric reactions, deposition and understanding of long-term environmental conditions around the Earth.
“I feel very honored. Being recognized by other leaders in their fields as well as some truly exceptional scientists is a wonderful affirmation of my career so far. I hope I can continue to pursue answers to interesting and relevant questions. I sincerely enjoy being a scientist and engineer.”
(News release from Texas Tech University)
