Kristin Persson Elected into the 2022 Class of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

January 31, 2023

Washington, D.C. — The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the Science family of journals, has elected 505 scientists, engineers and innovators from around the world and across all disciplines to the 2022 class of AAAS Fellows, one of the most distinguished honors within the scientific community. The newly elected Fellows are being recognized for their scientific and socially notable achievements spanning their careers. View the 2022 class of AAAS Fellows.

“AAAS is proud to elevate these standout individuals and recognize the many ways in which they’ve advanced scientific excellence, tackled complex societal challenges and pushed boundaries that will reap benefits for years to come,” said Sudip S. Parikh, Ph.D., AAAS chief executive officer and executive publisher of the Science family of journals.

This year’s class has moved their fields forward, paving the way for scientific advances that benefit society. They bring diverse and novelty thinking, innovative approaches and passion that will help solve the world’s most complex problems. Examples include:

  • Leading the Hubble Space Telescope’s scientific mission.
  • Conducting modeling and analysis of epidemics and other global public health challenges.
  • Driving diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the scientific enterprise.
  • Developing policies to improve ethical conduct, inclusion and personal safety in evolutionary biology and the broader science, technology, engineering and mathematics community.
  • Being one of a handful of tenured Latina astronomy professors in the United States.
  • Pioneering contributions to the radiology field and working to eliminate health disparities by broadening institutional partnerships.
  • Leading conservation efforts on the ecology and biodiversity of marine ecosystems in Costa Rica.
  • Contributing to understanding the impacts of Amazonian deforestation.
  • Leading research on suicide to reduce the stigma of mental illness.
  • Advocating for science communication to engage in science policy and diplomacy.
  • Contributing to the field of protoplanetary disk studies.

The new class hails from academic institutions, laboratories and observatories, hospitals and medical centers, museums, global corporations, nonprofit organizations, institutes and government agencies (including from the U.S. presidential administration).

Honoring esteemed innovators is a tradition dating back to 1874. The new class joins the ranks of noted Fellows such as Alondra Nelson, deputy assistant to the president and principal deputy director for science and society at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; Mae Jemison, the first Black woman to go to space; Steven Chu, 1997 Nobel Laureate in Physics who served as the 12th U.S. Secretary of Energy; W. E. B. Dubois, considered the founding father of American sociology; Ellen Ochoa, veteran astronaut and the Johnson Space Center’s first Hispanic and second female director in its history; and Grace Hopper, pioneer in computer software development and programming language.

The new Fellows will receive a certificate and a gold and blue rosette pin (representing science and engineering, respectively) to commemorate their election and will be celebrated in Washington, D.C., in summer 2023. They will also be featured in the AAAS News & Notes section of Science in February 2023.