Two Florida State University faculty members have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, in recognition of their distinguished contributions to the scientific community.
Professor of Chemistry Michael Shatruk and director of the Center for Integrating Research and Learning Roxanne Hughes have been named to the 2023 class of AAAS Fellows, which comprises 502 scientists, engineers and innovators across 24 disciplines.
“Selection as an AAAS fellow is national recognition of outstanding contributions to science and research,” said Vice President for Research Stacey S. Patterson. “Mike Shatruk and Roxanne Hughes demonstrate relentless commitment to developing new knowledge in their respective fields. We are incredibly proud of their accomplishment and excited to see how their work will continue to impact our world in the future.”
AAAS launched this recognition in 1874, about 25 years after the association was founded. Election as a fellow of AAAS is a lifetime honor, but it comes with an expectation that recipients maintain high standards of professional ethics and scientific integrity.
Both Shatruk and Hughes said they were honored by the nomination. Hughes said she was so taken aback by the news that she had to read her notification email a few times before it sank in.
“It’s so cool to have your peers recognize you,” Hughes said. “It just means so much to be a part of this group of esteemed researchers and practitioners.”
Hughes heads the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory’s educational outreach arm, which provides educational programming at all academic levels, from elementary school to the graduate school and postdoctoral level. She also maintains a research portfolio focused on STEM faculty development and the barriers some groups face in pursuing STEM careers.
She is vice chair of the Faculty Senate and a member of the FSU President’s Council on Inclusive Excellence and Civility. She also served on the steering committee that helped develop the university’s research strategic plan, A Strategic Plan to Inspire Research Excellence (ASPIRE).
Shatruk’s work focuses on inorganic materials and how synthesis and crystal structures can be used to create quantum magnets, molecular qubits and other stimuli-responsive materials. He has been funded by the National Science Foundation, American Chemical Society, private industry and others. He completed his doctorate in 2000 and came to Florida State University in 2007 after postdoctoral stints at Cornell University and Texas A&M University.
Shatruk is the founding director of the FSU Quantum initiative and professor of inorganic and materials chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. He is the faculty representative to the Office of the Vice President for Research and the FSU liaison to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Shatruk received numerous awards from FSU and American Chemical Society in recognition of his research, service, teaching and mentoring.
He noted he felt like he was in good company when he considered the other researchers at FSU who previously received the award.
“It is just humbling that others think highly of your work, and they appreciate what you do,” Shatruk said.
The new fellows will receive a certificate and a gold and blue rosette pin (representing science and engineering, respectively) to commemorate their election and will be celebrated at a forum on Sept. 21, 2024. That evening, AAAS will also celebrate the program’s 150th anniversary at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C.