Rice Scientists, Engineer Elected AAAS Fellows

Houston, TX - Rice University faculty members Bonnie Bartel, Sidney Burrus and Vicki Colvin have been awarded the distinction of AAAS Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Election as a Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.

Bartel, the Ralph and Dorothy Looney Professor of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, was selected "for contributions to understanding of auxin metabolism, peroxisome biogenesis and microRNA functions in plants through innovative genetic approaches using Arabidopsis thaliana."

Burrus, the Maxfield and Oshman Professor Emeritus of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was selected "for fundamental contributions to digital signal processing, particularly for the development of FFT (fast Fourier transform) algorithms and digital filter design."

Colvin, professor of chemistry and in chemical and biomolecular engineering and director of Rice's Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (CBEN), was selected "for distinguished contributions to the exploration of fundamental chemical questions that emerge when inorganic nanoparticles interact with aqueous biological and environmental systems."

Few AAAS members are elevated to the rank of Fellow. Fellows are selected for their efforts to advance science or scientific applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished. Bartel, Burrus and Colvin are among 471 Fellows elected this year. This year's AAAS Fellows are named in this week's edition of the journal Science and will be honored at a Feb. 16 ceremony at the 2008 AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston.

SOURCE: Rice University