AUSTIN, Texas A neuroscientist, a chemical engineer, a mechanical engineer, a molecular biologist and a pharmaceutical researcher who are faculty members at The University of Texas at Austin have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
AAAS fellows are chosen annually by their peers to recognize their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.
The fellows approved by the AAAS Council from The University of Texas at Austin are:
Richard Warren Aldrich, professor in the Department of Neuroscience in the College of Natural Sciences. Aldrich was recognized for outstanding and important contributions to the understanding of gated conformational changes in ion channels. Aldrich is the Karl Folkers Chair in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research II. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Roger T. Bonnecaze, professor in the McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering in the Cockrell School of Engineering. Bonnecaze was recognized for distinguished contributions to the field of computational engineering, particularly for theoretical modeling and design of complex fluids and nanomanufacturing systems. He is co-director of Nanomanufacturing Systems for Mobile Computing and Energy Technologies (NASCENT), a research center based at UT Austin and funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Arumugam Manthiram, professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering in the Cockrell School of Engineering. Manthiram was recognized for distinguished contributions to the field of materials chemistry, particularly for new materials development, novel synthesis methods and fundamental understanding of structure-property relationships. He is director of the Cockrell School’s Texas Materials Institute, which provides infrastructure and organization support for modern multidisciplinary materials research.
Stanley Roux, professor of molecular biosciences in the College of Natural Sciences. Roux was recognized for his innovative experiments to elucidate the key role of extracellular nucleotides and apyrase enzymes in regulating plant growth and development. Roux is a Distinguished Teaching Professor who has received funding from the NSF and NASA for his research on how the environmental stimuli of light and gravity alter patterns of growth and development in plants.
Karen Vasquez, professor in the Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the College of Pharmacy. Vasquez was recognized for pioneering contributions concerning genome instability, particularly by demonstrating that noncanonical DNA structures can be mutagenic, and for discovering new roles for DNA repair factors. She is the James T. Doluisio Regents Professor in Pharmacy.
The new fellows will be honored during the AAAS Fellows Forum at the 2015 AAAS Annual Meeting in San Jose, California. They join 69 previously honored AAAS fellows at The University of Texas at Austin.
