Six present MIT associates and 27 extra MIT alumni have been elected as fellows of the American Affiliation for the Development of Science (AAAS).
The 2024 class of AAAS Fellows consists of 471 scientists, engineers, and innovators, spanning all 24 of AAAS disciplinary sections, who’re being acknowledged for his or her scientifically and socially distinguished achievements.
Noubar Afeyan PhD ’87, life member of the MIT Company, was named a AAAS Fellow “for excellent management in biotechnology, specifically mRNA therapeutics, and for advocacy for recognition of the contributions of immigrants to financial and scientific progress.” Afeyan is the founder and CEO of the enterprise creation firm Flagship Pioneering, which has constructed over 100 science-based firms to rework human well being and sustainability. He’s additionally the chairman and cofounder of Moderna, which was awarded a 2024 Nationwide Medal of Expertise and Innovation for the event of its Covid-19 vaccine. Afeyan earned his PhD in biochemical engineering at MIT in 1987 and was a senior lecturer on the MIT Sloan Faculty of Administration for 16 years, beginning in 2000. Amongst different actions on the Institute, he serves on the advisory board of the MIT Abdul Latif Jameel Clinic for Machine Studying and delivered MIT’s 2024 Graduation tackle.
Cynthia Breazeal SM ’93, ScD ’00 is a professor of media arts and sciences at MIT, the place she based and directs the Private Robots group within the MIT Media Lab. At MIT Open Studying, she is the MIT dean for digital studying, and on this position, she leverages her expertise in rising digital applied sciences and enterprise, analysis, and strategic initiatives to guide Open Studying’s enterprise and analysis and engagement items. She can be the director of the MIT-wide Initiative on Accountable AI for Social Empowerment and Training (elevate.mit.edu). She co-founded the patron social robotics firm, Jibo, Inc., the place she served as chief scientist and chief expertise officer. She is acknowledged for distinguished contributions within the area of synthetic intelligence training, significantly round the usage of social robots, and studying at scale.
Alan Edelman PhD ’89 is an utilized arithmetic professor for the Division of Arithmetic and leads the Utilized Computing Group of the Pc Science and Synthetic Intelligence Laboratory, the MIT Julia Lab. He’s acknowledged as a 2024 AAAS fellow for distinguished contributions and excellent breakthroughs in high-performance computing, linear algebra, random matrix idea, computational science, and specifically for the event of the Julia programming language. Edelman has been elected a fellow of 5 totally different societies — AMS, the Society for Industrial and Utilized Arithmetic, the Affiliation for Computing Equipment, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and AAAS.
Robert B. Millard ’73, life member and chairman emeritus of the MIT Company, was named a 2024 AAAS Fellow for excellent contributions to the scientific neighborhood and U.S. greater training “by means of exemplary management service to such storied establishments as AAAS and MIT.” Millard joined the MIT Company as a time period member in 2003 and was elected a life member in 2013. He served on the Govt Committee for 10 years and on the Funding Firm Administration Board for seven years, together with serving as its chair for the final 4 years. He served as a member of the Visiting Committees for Physics, Structure, and Chemistry. As well as, Millard has served as a member of the Linguistics and Philosophy Visiting Committee, the Company Growth Committee, and the Advisory Council for the Council for the Arts. In 2011, Millard acquired the Bronze Beaver Award, the MIT Alumni Affiliation’s highest honor for distinguished service.
Jagadeesh S. Moodera is a senior analysis scientist within the Division of Physics. His analysis pursuits embrace experimental condensed matter physics: spin polarized tunneling and nano spintronics; trade coupled ferromagnet/superconductor interface, triplet pairing, nonreciprocal present transport and reminiscence towards superconducting spintronics for quantum expertise; and topological insulators/superconductors, together with Majorana sure state research in metallic programs. His analysis within the space of spin polarized tunneling led to a breakthrough in observing tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) at room temperature in magnetic tunnel junctions. This resulted in an enormous surge on this space of analysis, at present one of the crucial energetic areas. TMR impact is utilized in all ultra-high-density magnetic information storage, in addition to for the event of nonvolatile magnetic random entry reminiscence (MRAM) that’s at present being superior additional in varied digital units, together with for neuromorphic computing structure. For his management in spintronics, the invention of TMR, the event of MRAM, and for mentoring the subsequent technology of scientists, Moodera was named a 2024 AAAS Fellow. For his TMR discovery he was awarded the Oliver Buckley Prize (2009) by the American Bodily Society (APS), named an American Nationwide Science Basis Competitiveness and Innovation Fellow (2008-10), received IBM and TDK Analysis Awards (1995-98), and have become a Fellow of APS (2000).
Noelle Eckley Selin, the director of the MIT Middle for Sustainability Science and Technique and a professor within the Institute for Knowledge, Techniques and Society and the Division of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, makes use of atmospheric chemistry modeling to tell decision-making methods on air air pollution, local weather change, and poisonous substances, together with mercury and protracted natural pollution. She has additionally revealed articles and e-book chapters on the interactions between science and coverage in worldwide environmental negotiations, specifically specializing in international efforts to control hazardous chemical substances and protracted natural pollution. She is called a 2024 AAAS Fellow for world-recognized management in modeling the impacts of air air pollution on human well being, in assessing the prices and advantages of associated insurance policies, and in integrating expertise dynamics into sustainability science.
Further MIT alumni honored as 2024 AAAS Fellows embrace: Danah Boyd SM ’02 (Media Arts and Sciences); Michael S. Branicky ScD ’95 (EECS); Jane P. Chang SM ’95, PhD ’98 (Chemical Engineering); Yong Chen SM ’99 (Arithmetic); Roger Nelson Clark PhD ’80 (EAPS); Mark Stephen Daskin ’74, PhD ’78 (Civil and Environmental Engineering); Marla L. Dowell PhD ’94 (Physics); Raissa M. D’Souza PhD ’99 (Physics); Cynthia Joan Ebinger SM ’86, PhD ’88 (EAPS/WHOI); Thomas Henry Epps III ’98, SM ’99 (Chemical Engineering); Daniel Goldman ’94 (Physics); Kenneth Keiler PhD ’96 (Biology); Karen Jean Meech PhD ’87 (EAPS); Christopher B. Murray PhD ’95 (Chemistry); Jason Nieh ’89 (EECS); William Nordhaus PhD ’67 (Economics); Milica Radisic PhD ’04 (Chemical Engineering); James G. Rheinwald PhD ’76 (Biology); Adina L. Roskies PhD ’04 (Philosophy); Linda Rothschild (Preiss) PhD ’70 (Arithmetic); Soni Lacefield Shimoda PhD ’03 (Biology); Daybreak Y. Sumner PhD ’95 (EAPS); Tina L. Tootle PhD ’04 (Biology); Karen Viskupic PhD ’03 (EAPS); Brant M. Weinstein PhD ’92 (Biology); Chee Wei Wong SM ’01, ScD ’03 (Mechanical Engineering; and Fei Xu PhD ’95 (Mind and Cognitive Sciences).
