MIT associates recognized as 2024 AAAS Fellows
Six Current MIT Affiliates and 27 Alumni Recognized as 2024 AAAS Fellows
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has elected six current MIT affiliates and 27 additional alumni as fellows for the year 2024. An exclusive group of 471 scientists, engineers, and innovators, spanning all 24 of AAAS disciplinary sections, are being recognized for their scientifically and socially distinguished achievements.
Noubar Afeyan, a life member of the MIT Corporation, is one of the honorees. He is being recognized for his outstanding leadership in biotechnology, particularly the development of mRNA therapeutics, and for his advocacy for the recognition of immigrants' contributions to economic and scientific progress. Afeyan is the founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, a venture creation company that has built over 100 science-based companies to transform human health and sustainability. He is also the chairman and co-founder of Moderna, which was awarded a 2024 National Medal of Technology and Innovation for the development of its Covid-19 vaccine. Afeyan earned his PhD in biochemical engineering at MIT in 1987 and was a senior lecturer at the Sloan School of Management for 16 years. Among other activities at the Institute, he serves on the advisory board of the Abdul Latif Jameel Clinic for Machine Learning and delivered MIT's 2024 Commencement address.
Cynthia Breazeal, a professor of media arts and sciences at MIT, is another notable honoree. She founded and directs the Personal Robots group in the MIT Media Lab and serves as the MIT dean for digital learning. Breazeal is recognized for her distinguished contributions in artificial intelligence education, particularly around the use of social robots, and for learning at scale. She co-founded the consumer social robotics company, Jibo, Inc., where she served as chief scientist and chief experience officer.
Alan Edelman, an applied mathematics professor at MIT, was named an AAAS fellow for his distinguished contributions and breakthroughs in high-performance computing, linear algebra, random matrix theory, computational science, and the development of the Julia programming language. Edelman has been honored as a fellow of five different societies.
Robert B. Millard, a life member and chairman emeritus of the MIT Corporation, has been named a 2024 AAAS fellow for his outstanding contributions to the scientific community and U.S. higher education. His leadership service has been exemplary across numerous institutions such as AAAS and MIT.
Jagadeesh S. Moodera, a senior research scientist in the Department of Physics, was honored for his leadership in spintronics, discovery of tunnel magnetoresistance, development of MRAM, and mentoring the next generation of scientists.
Noelle Eckley Selin, the director of the MIT Center for Sustainability Science and Strategy and a professor in the Institute for Data, Systems and Society and the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, has been named a 2024 AAAS fellow for her world-recognized leadership in modeling the impacts of air pollution on human health, assessing the costs and benefits of related policies, and integrating technology dynamics into sustainability science.
Additional MIT alumni honored as 2024 AAAS Fellows include Danah Boyd, Michael S. Branicky, Jane P. Chang, Yong Chen, Roger Nelson Clark, Mark Stephen Daskin, Marla L. Dowell, Raissa M. D'Souza, Cynthia Joan Ebinger, Thomas Henry Epps III, Daniel Goldman, Kenneth Keiler, Karen Jean Meech, Christopher B. Murray, Jason Nieh, William Nordhaus, Milica Radisic, James G. Rheinwald, Adina L. Roskies, Linda Rothschild (Preiss), Soni Lacefield Shimoda, Dawn Y. Sumner, Tina L. Tootle, Karen Viskupic, Brant M. Weinstein, Chee Wei Wong, and Fei Xu.
AAAS Fellows are typically honored for their efforts to advance science, its applications in research, education, policy, and communication. Nominations are considered for both scientific achievement and broader impacts within and beyond their fields. The fellowship is a hallmark of distinguished accomplishment in science and its service to society. For more information or specific details about each individual's achievements, further details would require accessing the full roster or individual biographical profiles from MIT or AAAS sources.
- Noubar Afeyan, a MIT alumni and life member of the MIT Corporation, has been recognized by AAAS for his outstanding achievements in science, specifically in the field of biotechnology and mRNA therapeutics.
- Afeyan is the founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, a company that has made significant contributions to human health and sustainability.
- He is also the chairman and co-founder of Moderna, which was awarded a 2024 National Medal of Technology and Innovation for its work on the Covid-19 vaccine.
- Cynthia Breazeal, a professor at MIT, has been honored by AAAS for her distinguished contributions to artificial intelligence education, particularly the use of social robots.
- Breazeal co-founded Jibo, Inc., a consumer social robotics company, where she served as the chief scientist and chief experience officer.
- Alan Edelman, a professor of applied mathematics at MIT, was named an AAAS fellow for his distinguished contributions to high-performance computing, linear algebra, and the development of the Julia programming language.
- Robert B. Millard, a life member and chairman emeritus of the MIT Corporation, has been recognized for his outstanding contributions to the scientific community and U.S. higher education.
- Jagadeesh S. Moodera, a senior research scientist in the Department of Physics at MIT, has been honored for his leadership in spintronics and mentoring the next generation of scientists.
- Noelle Eckley Selin, the director of the MIT Center for Sustainability Science and Strategy, was named an AAAS fellow for her world-recognized leadership in modeling the impacts of air pollution on human health.
- Danah Boyd, a MIT alumni, and several others have been recognized by AAAS as 2024 fellows for their efforts to advance science in various fields such as computing, chemistry, biology, physics, engineering, and health-and-wellness.
- These fellows have made significant contributions to their respective fields, often through research, innovation, and education.
- AAAS Fellows are honored for their efforts to advance science, its applications in research, education, policy, and communication.
- Nominations for the fellowship are considered for both scientific achievement and broader impacts within and beyond their fields.
- The fellowship is a hallmark of distinguished accomplishment in science and its service to society.
- For more information about each individual's achievements, further details would require accessing the full roster or individual biographical profiles from MIT or AAAS sources.
