Penn State University: Five Penn State faculty named AAAS Fellows

Five Penn State faculty members in areas ranging from the ecology and evolution of fish and coral reef ecology, to bone regeneration and intrinsically disordered proteins, have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society. This year a total of 564 individuals are being recognized with this lifetime honor, bestowed by their peers, for their extraordinary achievements in advancing science.

Fellows will receive their Fellow certificates and pins by mail and will be celebrated later this year during an in-person gathering when it is feasible from a public health and safety perspective. Those from Penn State are:

Mónica Medina, professor of biology — for pioneering contributions to understanding the evolution and molecular microbial ecology of coral symbiosis and coral reef sensitivity to global change and for dedication to mentoring diverse young scientists.
Mary K. Shenk, associate professor of anthropology, demography and Asian studies — for distinguished contributions to the fields of anthropology and demography, particularly for integrating biocultural and evolutionary insights into understanding the demographic transition.
Scott A. Showalter, professor of chemistry and of biochemistry and molecular biology — for development and application of biophysical approaches to understand structures, dynamics and biological functions of intrinsically disordered proteins and microRNAs, and for exemplary service to the field of biophysics.
Jay R. Stauffer Jr., distinguished professor of ichthyology — for distinguished contributions to the field of biology, particularly the ecology and evolution of fishes.
Jian Yang, professor of biomedical engineering and holder of the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Regenerative Engineering — for distinguished contributions to regenerative engineering and regenerative medicine for developing new theranostic biomaterials and his discovery of citrate metabonegenic regulation for bone regeneration.
With over $1 billion in annual research expenditures, Penn State ranks among the top 25 U.S. research universities and is one of only two institutions in the nation accorded land-grant, sea-grant, sun-grant and space-grant status. This year’s fellows represent the Eberly College of Science, the College of Engineering, the College of Agricultural Sciences and the College of the Liberal Arts.