Phillip A. Sharp, Molecular Biologist and Nobel Laureate, Chosen To Serve As AAAS President-Elect
Nobel laureate Phillip A. Sharp, institute professor at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, has been chosen to serve as president-elect of AAAS. He will begin his one-year term as president in February 2013, at the close of the 179th AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston.
Sharp, a noted molecular biologist with a focus on the genetic causes of cancer, shared the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of “split genes”—the finding that genes could be composed of several separate segments within DNA. His lab now focuses on the therapeutic potential of small RNA molecules that can switch genes on and off. He has co-founded two companies: Biogen (now Biogen Idec) and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals.
At the close of the 2012 meeting, William H. Press began a one-year term as AAAS president. Press is a professor of computer science and integrative biology at the University of Texas at Austin, and member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).
The former president, Nina V. Fedoroff, has begun a one-year term as chairman of the AAAS Board of Directors. Fedoroff served as the science and technology adviser to the U.S. Department of State and USAID from 2007 to 2010, and is now a distinguished visiting professor at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and an Evan Pugh Professor at Pennsylvania State University.
Here are the full election results, with all terms beginning 20 February 2012:
General Offices
President-Elect: Phillip A. Sharp
Board of Directors: Bonnie L. Bassler; May R. Berenbaum
Committee on Nominations: Mary-Claire King; Barbara J. Meyer, Cherry A. Murray; Keith R. Yamamoto
Section on Agriculture, Food, and Renewable Resources
Chair-Elect: Susan R. McCouch
Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Jo Handelsman
Electorate Nominating Committee: Candace H. Haigler; Gregory B. Martin
Council Delegate: Maud A.W. Hinchee
Section on Anthropology
Chair-Elect: John H. Relethford
Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Karen R. Rosenberg
Electorate Nominating Committee: David G. Anderson; Leslea J. Hlusko
Section on Astronomy
Chair-Elect: Sandra M. Faber
Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Megan Donahue
Electorate Nominating Committee: Martha P. Haynes; Bruce Margon
Section on Atmospheric and Hydrospheric Sciences
Chair-Elect: Andrew Dessler
Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Alan Mix
Electorate Nominating Committee: Margaret Leinen; Joyce E. Penner
Section on Biological Sciences
Chair-Elect: Joy Bergelson
Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Ellen D. Ketterson
Electorate Nominating Committee: Sarah Hake; Jeannie T. Lee
Section on Chemistry
Chair-Elect: Alfred P. Sattelberger
Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Melanie Sanford
Electorate Nominating Committee: Anna K. Mapp; William B. Tolman
Section on Dentistry and Oral Health Sciences
Chair-Elect: Paul H. Krebsbach
Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Christopher H. Fox
Electorate Nominating Committee: Anne George; J. Timothy Wright
Section on Education
Chair-Elect: Samuel M. Taylor
Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Dale Rose Baker
Electorate Nominating Committee: Julia V. Clark; Judy Scotchmoor
Section on Engineering
Chair-Elect: Kristina M. Johnson
Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Alan E. Willner
Electorate Nominating Committee: Linda P.B. Katehi; Gregory N. Stephanopoulos
Council Delegate: Stuart L. Cooper; Larry V. McIntire
Section on General Interest in Science and Engineering
Chair-Elect: Marilee Long
Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Joseph M. DeSimone
Electorate Nominating Committee: Lynne Timpani Friedmann; Barbara Gastel
Section on Geology and Geography
Chair-Elect: Tim Dixon
Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Naomi Oreskes
Electorate Nominating Committee: Brenda Ekwurzel; Walter D. Mooney
Section on History and Philosophy of Science
Chair-Elect: Davis Baird
Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Naomi Oreskes
Electorate Nominating Committee: Thomas Nickles; Robert T. Pennock
Council Delegate: Vassiliki Betty Smocovitis
Section on Industrial Science and Technology
Chair-Elect: Thomas Mason
Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Benn Tannenbaum
Electorate Nominating Committee: Thomas Meade; Thomas P. Russell
Council Delegate: Elizabeth R. Cantwell
Section on Information, Computing, and Communication
Chair-Elect: Eric Horvitz
Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Peter A. Freeman
Electorate Nominating Committee: Toni Carbo; Tom Dietterich
Section on Linguistics and Language Science
Chair-Elect: Karen Emmorey
Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Colin Phillips
Electorate Nominating Committee: Mark Aronoff; Eric Potsdam
Section on Mathematics
Chair-Elect: Juan C. Meza
Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Sheldon Katz
Electorate Nominating Committee: Carlos Castillo-Chavez; Annie Selden
Section on Medical Sciences
Chair-Elect: Beverly L. Davidson
Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Claire Pomeroy
Electorate Nominating Committee: Karen Hsiao Ashe; Katherine Amberson Hajjar
Council Delegate: Mary C. Dinauer; Katherine A. High; Nancy H. Ruddle
Section on Neuroscience
Chair-Elect: Joseph T. Coyle
Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Robert Vassar
Electorate Nominating Committee: Jeffrey L. Cummings; Michael J. Zigmond
Section on Pharmaceutical Sciences
Chair-Elect: Kenneth D. Tew
Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: John F. Carpenter
Electorate Nominating Committee: Alice M. Clark; James M. Gallo
Section on Physics
Chair-Elect: Jay Marx
Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: David K. Campbell
Electorate Nominating Committee: Angela V. Olinto; Stuart Parkin
Section on Psychology
Chair-Elect: Richard N. Aslin
Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Susan T. Fiske
Electorate Nominating Committee: Keith J. Holyoak; Sandra R. Waxman
Council Delegate: Lewis P. Lipsitt
Section on Social, Economic, and Political Sciences
Chair-Elect: Arthur Lupia
Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Eileen M. Crimmins
Electorate Nominating Committee: Lynda T. Carlson; Jonathan D. Mayer
Council Delegate: Amy O. Tsui
Section on Societal Impacts of Science and Engineering
Chair-Elect: Susan E. Cozzens
Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Ruth L. Fischbach
Electorate Nominating Committee: David H. DeVorkin; Doris Teichler Zallen
Section on Statistics
Chair-Elect: Sally C. Morton
Member-at-Large of the Section Committee: Jessica Utts
Electorate Nominating Committee: Hans-Georg Müller; Javier Rojo