Three Oregon State University researchers earn rank of AAAS fellow

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The American Association for the Advancement of Science has awarded the distinction of AAAS fellow to three researchers from Oregon State University: Michael Freitag, David Maddison and Mas Subramanian.

The AAAS denotes fellows based on “efforts toward advancing science applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished.”

Freitag was honored in the field of biological sciences for contributions to fungal genetics and genomics, “particularly in dissection of fungal centromeres and chromatin function, including cell biological tools to interrogate cell polarization,” the AAAS said in a statement.

Freitag, a professor of biochemistry and biophysics and a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, researches how genes are regulated by DNA or protein modifications, and as part of that work has found a way to unlock the ability of fungi to produce new molecules that could be medically important.

Maddison, also honored in biological sciences, was selected for his work in phylogenetic systematics, “including software tools that revolutionized how phylogenies are studied, and advances in beetle evolutionary biology.”

He studies origins of beetle diversity, including the nature of their evolutionary tree, and documents the species of ground beetles. Maddison also is co-developer of two of the more widely used software packages in phylogenetic biology. He is a professor of integrative biology and holds the endowed Harold and Leona Rice Professorship of Systematic Entomology.

Subramanian, the Milton Harris Professor of Materials Science at OSU, was honored for his contributions to the field of materials chemistry, “particularly for several ground-breaking functional materials discoveries and transforming them into knowledge and practical applications.” His work includes discovering the stable, non-toxic, heat-resistant, infrared-reflecting pigment known as YInMn blue.

Subramanian, Maddison and Freitag are among 416 AAAS members awarded the distinction of AAAS fellow this year. The new fellows will be introduced Feb. 16 in Washington, D.C., during the AAAS annual meeting.

OSU’s 2018 honorees are all from OSU’s College of Science, which now has 16 AAAS fellows.

The tradition of AAAS fellows dates to 1874. Association members can be considered for the rank of fellow if nominated by the steering group of their respective sections, by three fellows, or by the association’s chief executive officer.

Each steering group reviews nominations within its section and forwards a final list to the AAAS Council for a vote. The AAAS Council is the association’s policymaking body.

Founded in 1848, the American Association for the Advancement of Science is the world’s largest general scientific society and publishes Science and multiple other journals.