Eight University of Michigan faculty members have been elected 2020 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The U-M researchers are among 489 newly elected fellows announced today by AAAS.

The scientists and engineers were chosen as AAAS Fellows by their peers for their “scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications,” according to AAAS
“ the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science.

The new U-M fellows are:

Gabriel Corfas, the Lynn and Ruth Townsend Professor of Communication Disorders, director of the Kresge Hearing Research Institute and associate chair of research in the Medical School’s Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, for distinguished contributions to the field of cellular and molecular neuroscience, particularly on the roles and mechanisms of neuron-glia interactions and their implications to disease.

Carol Elias, professor of molecular and integrative physiology and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Medical School, for distinguished contributions to the field of reproductive and metabolic physiology, particularly for elucidating the mechanisms that couple metabolism to the neuroendocrine control of reproduction.

Eva Feldman, the Russell N. DeJong Professor of Neurology at the Medical School, for distinguished contributions to neuroscience and neurology, particularly through leadership, mentoring, and basic and clinical research, leading to new disease therapies and important clinical guidelines.

Renny Franceschi, the Marcus L. Ward Collegiate Professor of Dentistry at the School of Dentistry, professor of biological chemistry at the Medical School and professor of biomedical engineering the Medical School and College of Engineering, for distinguished contributions to the fields of transcriptional control mechanisms of bone formation, signaling and extracellular matrix biology of osteoblast differentiation, teaching and service.

Yuri Gurevich, professor emeritus of electrical engineering and computer science at the College of Engineering, for distinguished contributions to logic, particularly finite model theory, and the development of abstract state machines.

Ursula Jakob, the Patricia S. Yaeger Collegiate Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, and professor of biological chemistry at the Medical School, for seminal discoveries of how reactive oxygen species play pivotal roles in a range of biological processes and for method development to identify redox-regulated proteins and cellular pathways.

Nathan Sheldon, professor of earth and environmental sciences at the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, for distinguished contributions and extraordinary achievements in developing, refining and applying geochemical measurements of paleosols to reconstructing paleo-pCO2 levels and ancient climates on Earth.

Joel Swanson, professor of microbiology and immunology at the Medical School, for distinguished contributions to the field of cell biology, particularly for advancing our understanding of how cells organize their cytoplasm for spatially organized activities.

This year’s AAAS Fellows will be formally announced Nov. 27 in the AAAS News & Notes section of Science. A virtual Fellows Forum—an induction ceremony for the new fellows—will be held Feb. 13, 2021.