News Service

12-18-08

Four Iowa State researchers -- left to right, Surya Mallapragada, Klaus Schmidt-Rohr, George Kraus and Kenneth Moore -- are being named AAAS Fellows by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Photo by Bob Elbert.

American Association for the Advancement of Science honors four Iowa Staters

AMES, Iowa -- Four Iowa State University researchers have been named AAAS Fellows by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The honor is bestowed on association members by their scientific peers. The association named 486 fellows this year for "their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications."

Iowa State's new AAAS Fellows are:

• George Kraus, director of the Institute for Physical Research and Technology, University Professor of Chemistry and associate of the Division of Materials Science and Engineering at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory. Kraus was honored for "developing syntheses of natural products and other imaginative applications of organic chemistry; also for promoting chemistry through visionary administrative leadership in the university environment."

  Kraus' research program includes developing biobased products using catalysts. He's also working to synthesize biologically active molecules, including antiviral agents and plant-based drugs for treatment of type 2 diabetes.

• Surya Mallapragada, professor of chemical and biological engineering and field work proposal leader for Bioinspired Materials at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory. Mallapragada was honored for "research in the field of biomaterials and biomolecular engineering, particularly for important scientific advances in polymer design, relevant to nerve cell regeneration and drug delivery."

  Mallapragada's research group is working on bioinspired self-assembling nanocomposites, a bottom-up approach to materials design as seen in nature. The group is also developing new biomaterials for drug and gene delivery and neural tissue engineering.

• Kenneth Moore, professor of agronomy. Moore was honored for "outstanding contributions in research, teaching and service to agronomy and crop science."

  Moore's research program includes studies of biomass crops and cropping systems.

• Klaus Schmidt-Rohr, professor of chemistry and a field work proposal leader for the Solid State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) program at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory. Schmidt-Rohr was honored for "using and developing solid-state NMR to answer important questions about diverse materials, including synthetic polymers, bone, soil and fuel cell membranes."

  Schmidt-Rohr's research program includes studies of thermoelectric materials, the nanostructure of diatom cell walls and the structure-property relations in Nafion fuel cell membranes.

This year's class of AAAS Fellows will be announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science on Friday, Dec. 19. The new fellows will be presented with official certificates and pins on Feb. 14 in Chicago at the association's annual meeting.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science is the world's largest general scientific society. It was founded in 1848, includes 262 affiliated societies and academies of science, and publishes the journal Science.

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Quick look

The four Iowa State University researchers joining this year's class of AAAS Fellows cover a wide range of science, including biobased products, biologically active molecules, bioinspired materials, biomass crops and materials science using nuclear magnetic resonance technology.