Three UF researchers named AAAS Fellows

December 17, 2009

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Three University of Florida researchers – two in the College of Engineering and one in the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences — have been named American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows.

Harry Klee, David Norton and Susan Sinnott are being honored as AAAS Fellows “because of their efforts toward advancing science applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished,” the AAAS announced today.

Their selection brings the total number of UF faculty named AAAS Fellows to 56, although some have retired or left UF since they were named.

The AAAS cited Klee, eminent scholar and professor of horticultural sciences, for “seminal contributions to understanding factors that control tomato flavor.”

It is honoring Norton, professor of materials science and engineering and associate dean of the engineering college, for his “distinguished contributions to the field of oxide thin films and super lattices, including contributions in superconductivity, wide-band gap semiconductors, and thin-film.

Sinnott, professor of materials science and engineering, used “electronic-structure calculations and atomic-scale simulations to understand materials, particularly point defects in metal oxides, and fluorocarbon-plasma-modified polymers and composites,” the AAAS said.

Members are considered for the rank of fellow if nominated by the association’s steering groups, by three fellows who are current AAAS members, or by the AAAS chief executive officer. New fellows will receive an official certificate and gold and blue rosette pin in a ceremony Feb. 20 at the AAAS Annual Meeting in San Diego.