The American Astronomical Society (AAS), a major international organization of professional astronomers, astronomy educators, and amateur astronomers, is honoring 23members for extraordinary achievement and service by naming them AAS Fellows. They are being recognized for original research and publications, innovative contributions to astronomical techniques or instrumentation, significant contributions to education and public outreach, and noteworthy service to astronomy and to the Society itself. Fellows receive a certificate and a lapel pin.

AAS Fellows Class of 2022

  • Gary Bernstein (University of Pennsylvania): For advancing the state of the art in optical surveys through contributions to instrumentation, theory, algorithms, and project development; leadership in developing weak gravitational lensing as a precision measure of the dark universe; and discoveries in the outer solar system.
  • Alan Boss (Earth & Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution for Science): For innovative theoretical investigations of the formation of stars and exoplanets, and particularly for advancing the theory of gravitational instability in the rapid formation of gas giant planets.
  • Hsiao-Wen Chen (The University of Chicago): For fundamental work using quasar absorption-line observations to study the halo gas content of galaxies.
  • Kelle Cruz (CUNY Hunter College): For her continuous dedication to the betterment of the scientific process and community, including her efforts founding the AstroBetter blog, serving in important leadership roles within the AAS, and authoring seminal papers in brown dwarf science.
  • Imke de Pater (University of California, Berkeley): For innovative observations of bodies in our solar system using cutting-edge instrumentation across the electromagnetic spectrum and in-depth modeling of the data.
  • Jacqueline Faherty (American Museum of Natural History): For outstanding accomplishments in the study of brown dwarfs and directly imaged exoplanets; a dedication to public outreach; and service as an advocate, role model, and mentor to astronomers from underrepresented groups.
  • Harry Ferguson (Space Telescope Science Institute): For scientific, technical, and community leadership of surveys of the distant universe with the Hubble Space Telescope, in combination with other facilities.
  • George Helou (California Institute of Technology/IPAC): For significant contributions to our understanding of the infrared universe and enabling community access to data from Spitzer, Herschel, Planck, and other missions.
  • Luis Ho (Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University): For pioneering multiwavelength searches for active galactic nuclei powered by black holes, and for leadership that is shaping China’s emergence as a world power in astronomy.
  • Judith T Karpen (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center): For her sustained contributions to understanding the formation and dynamics of the solar corona and wind.
  • Richard Klein (University of California, Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory): For broad and influential contributions to computational astrophysics, for scientific achievements on radiatively-driven stellar winds and star formation theory, and for training a generation of students and postdoctoral scholars.
  • Richard Kron (The University of Chicago): For pioneering photometric studies of high-redshift galaxies, and for service to the astronomy community through his dedicated career of leadership of optical surveys.
  • Charles Lada (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian): For a distinguished career investigating the formation of stars and for pioneering advances on our understanding of molecular clouds and outflows, circumstellar disks, evolution of young stellar objects, and more.
  • Chung-Pei Ma (University of California, Berkeley): For pioneering contributions to wide-ranging theoretical and observational studies of black holes, galaxy evolution and dynamics, and cosmology.
  • Philip Massey (Lowell Observatory): For fundamental observational work on luminous stars in the Local Group and nearby galaxies, and for multiple altruistic contributions to the health and vitality of our field.
  • Harold McAlister (Georgia State University): For pioneering work in high angular resolution astronomy including the discovery of thousands of visual binary stars; for founding the GSU Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy; and for a decade of leadership of the historic Mount Wilson Observatory.
  • Lucy McFadden (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Retired): For her research incorporating both ground- and space-based observations of near-Earth asteroids and comets; her long service to the AAS; and her commitment to the organization of educational opportunities in science and technology.
  • Victoria Meadows (University of Washington): For her pioneering work in developing the field of exoplanet astrobiology, including decades of scientific leadership and service, and an exceptional commitment to training the next generation of astrobiologists.
  • C. Robert O’Dell (Vanderbilt University): For his efforts as founding Project Scientist in bringing the Hubble Space Telescope and the Space Telescope Science Institute from formulation to fruition, and for his multi-wavelength studies of nebulae.
  • Farid Salama (NASA Ames Research Center): For his significant contributions to scientific advances in astrophysics and astrochemistry, and for his service to the community through the creation of the Laboratory Astrophysics Division of the AAS.
  • Ilaria Pascucci (University of Arizona): For her scientific contributions to the understanding of how planet-forming disks evolve and disperse.
  • John H. Thomas (University of Rochester): For important contributions to solar and stellar physics, and for service and leadership within the AAS as chair of the Solar Physics Division and as a scientific editor of the Astrophysical Journal.
  • Tommaso Treu (University of California, Los Angeles): For his discoveries on the nature of dark matter and the expansion history of the universe through innovative strong gravitational lensing observations and analysis methods.

The inaugural class of AAS Fellows was named in 2020; those Legacy Fellows included more than 200 Society members, including past recipients of certain awards from the AASor its topical Divisions, distinguished AAS elected leaders and volunteer committee members, and previously unrecognized individuals with long histories of outstanding research, teaching, mentoring, and service.

The 2022 AAS Fellows now represent the third class recognized for enhancing and sharing humanity’s scientific understanding of the universe through personal achievement and extraordinary service to the astronomical sciences and to the AAS.

“This year’s AAS Fellow selections add to the growing list of distinguished members of our Society,” says AAS President Paula Szkody (University of Washington). “We’re delighted to recognize both the outstanding scientific accomplishments and the service to our community represented by the 2022 Fellows.”

For more information, see the AAS Fellows page, the AAS Fellows FAQpage, and the inaugural Fellows class press release.

Nominations for the AAS Fellows class of 2023 will open shortly and will be due on 30 June 2022.

Contacts: 

Dr. Susanna Kohler
AAS Press Officer
+1 202-328-2010 x127

Kevin Marvel
AAS Executive Officer

+1 202-328-2010 x114

The American Astronomical Society (AAS), established in 1899, is a major international organization of professional astronomers, astronomy educators, and amateur astronomers. Its membership of approximately 8,000 also includes physicists, geologists, engineers, and others whose interests lie within the broad spectrum of subjects now comprising the astronomical sciences. The mission of the AAS is to enhance and share humanity’s scientific understanding of the universe as a diverse and inclusive astronomical community, which it achieves through publishing, meetings, science advocacy, education and outreach, and training and professional development.