The 2024 class of Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) includes eight investigators from The Ohio State University, with six scientists coming from the College of Arts and Sciences.

The AAAS Fellowship, recognizing scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications, is one of the most prestigious honors a U.S. scientist can receive. Fellows are elected by their academic peers.

“Ohio State’s newly elected Fellows have devoted their professional lives to protecting health, investigating complex principles of physics, and analyzing social behavior and labor economics,” said Peter Mohler, executive vice president for research, innovation and knowledge at Ohio State. “The American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellowship is an important acknowledgment of the key role scientists play in solving critical problems and improving lives.” 

The College of Arts and Sciences' newest Fellows are Ian Hamilton, professor of evolution, ecology and organismal biology and vice chair in the Department of Mathematics; David Cole, professor and Ohio Research Scholar in the School of Earth Sciences; Bruce Weinberg, Eric Byron Fix-Monda Endowed Professor in the Department of Economics; John Beacom, College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy and director of the Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics; and Department of Physics Professors Jeanie (Chun Ning) Lau and Roland Kawakami.

Hamilton received this recognition for distinguished contributions to the fields of behavioral ecology and complexity science in both theory and empirical studies.

“I’m truly honored to be recognized by the AAAS,” Hamilton said. “It’s a privilege to work alongside the amazing students and postdocs in my lab and beyond, whose dedication and creativity make our work possible. I’m also deeply grateful to my colleagues and mentors who have played an instrumental role in helping me become the scientist I am today.”

Cole’s recognition is based on his distinguished contributions to the field of subsurface mineralogy and geochemistry from the molecular to the geological formation scale.

“It is a great honor to be elected a Fellow of AAAS. I am eternally grateful to those who put forth the nomination,” Cole said. “I am indeed fortunate to have had great mentors, colleagues, and students who all supported and inspired me to embrace interdisciplinary science covering a wide range of spatial and temporal scales relevant to understanding complex earth processes.”

Weinberg was honored for distinguished contributions to the field of labor economics, particularly for a multidisciplinary approach to studying creativity and innovation, socioeconomic determinants of youth outcomes, and technological impact on wage structure.

“At a time like this, I think back to spending essentially my entire working career at Ohio State,” Weinberg said. “I am deeply grateful for my many wonderful mentors, colleagues, collaborators, and trainees. I try to do my best to pass along the amazing training that I received to the next generation here at Ohio State. Being elected a fellow of the AAAS is a great honor, especially because I was able to apply my understanding of science policy as a member of its Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy (COSEPP).”

Beacom joins the AAAS Fellows in recognition of distinguished contributions to the fields of nuclear and particle astrophysics, particularly in regarding neutrinos.

“This was a nice surprise – I’m grateful to whoever nominated me!” Beacom said. “And, for many years of collaboration and support, I’m grateful to my Ohio State colleagues in physics, astronomy, and the Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics (CCAPP).”

Lau was awarded the fellowship for distinguished experimental contributions to the field of 2D van der Waals materials, leading to new insights into the thermal, mechanical, and electronic properties, and emergent phases in few-layer graphene.

“I’m thrilled and honored to be elected an AAAS Fellow,” Lau said. “Two-dimensional van der Waals materials is a super-exciting and fast-moving field, and I’ve had a lot of fun playing around with these materials. For this recognition, I am grateful for my colleagues who put together the nomination package and wrote the letters (which is a lot of trouble!), and for the departments, institutions and funding agencies that provided support for the work. But above all, I am indebted to my former and current group members and collaborators, whose hard works have led to the scientific discoveries mentioned in the citation.”

Kawakami received this recognition for seminal contributions to spintronics and magnetism in two-dimensional materials, and for the investigation of epitaxial magnetic films and heterostructures using molecular beam epitaxy and surface-sensitive characterizations.

“I’m honored to be selected as an AAAS Fellow,” Kawakami said. “Credit goes to the dedicated students and postdocs who put in the time and creative input toward our scientific studies. I also appreciate my faculty colleagues, research centers, departmental support, materials research user facilities, and especially the administrative and technical staff who make the research possible.”

The 2024 class includes 471 scientists, engineers and innovators spanning 24 scientific disciplines. The new Fellows will be celebrated in Washington, D.C., in June.