Two Dartmouth Faculty Named AAAS Fellows

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Two Dartmouth faculty members have been selected as 2015 Fellows by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and the publisher of the journal Science.

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Ian Baker is the Sherman Fairchild Professor of Engineering

Ian Baker is the Sherman Fairchild Professor of Engineering, senior associate dean for academic affairs at Thayer, and director of the Dartmouth Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence. (Robert Gill)

Professors Ian Baker and Andrew Friedland are among the 347 new Fellows recognized by AAAS this year for their distinguished efforts to advance science.

“The honor bestowed upon Professor Baker and Professor Friedland by one of the preeminent scientific organizations in the world recognizes their achievements as scholars, researchers, and teachers,” says Provost Carolyn Dever. “This achievement reflects positively not only on these extraordinary individuals, but also on the entire institution.”

Baker is cited by AAAS “for distinguished contributions to fundamental understanding of structure-property relationships in materials, particularly high-temperature austenitic alloys, ice sheet fabric formation, and nanoparticle development for cancer treatment.”

He joined the faculty of Thayer School of Engineering in 1982 and is the Sherman Fairchild Professor of Engineering, Thayer’s senior associate dean for academic affairs, and director of the Dartmouth Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence.

Baker obtained a BA and PhD in metallurgy and science of materials from Oxford University. His research focuses on metals and ice, including the physics of polar snow, firn, and ice. His most recent initiative involves the development of iron nanoparticles for cancer treatment. Additional ongoing projects in metals research include developing a series of high-strength magnetic materials. (Magnets that work and stay strong at high temperatures have many applications, such as for power-generation systems.)

“I am thrilled, inspired, and surprised to be elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,” says Baker.

“This is clearly a well-deserved recognition for Ian,” says Thayer Dean Joseph Helble. “His major contributions are in an unusually broad range of areas, from the development of novel high-temperature materials, to understanding the microstructure of ice, essential for the reconstruction of past climate conditions, to most recently developing nanoscale materials for cancer treatment. He has also been an outstanding contributor in the classroom, particularly as a long-standing teacher of our project-based ‘Introduction to Engineering’ class.”  

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Andrew Friedland is the Richard and Jane Pearl Professor in Environmental Studies

Andrew Friedland is the Richard and Jane Pearl Professor in Environmental Studies and a faculty member in the Environmental Studies Program. (Eli Burakian ’00)

Friedland was cited “for comprehensive studies of lead as an airborne pollutant in northeastern forests, and the distribution of lead, carbon and nitrogen in forest soils.”

As the Richard and Jane Pearl Professor in Environmental Studies and a faculty member in the Environmental Studies Program, Friedland teaches courses in environmental science, energy, forest biogeochemistry, global climate change, and soil science. He has studied the effect of air pollution on high-elevation forests of the northeastern United States and the impact of increased demand for wood as a fuel, and the subsequent effect on carbon storage in forest soils.

Friedland has taught one of Dartmouth’s first massive open online courses (MOOCs), “Introduction to Environmental Science.” He worked closely with a host of collaborators—including instructional designers, librarians, videographers, and graduate and undergraduate students—to put together the class.

Friedland received a BA in biology and environmental studies in 1981 and a PhD in earth and environmental science in 1985 from the University of Pennsylvania. He has been on the faculty at Dartmouth since 1987.

“I am honored to receive this recognition from AAAS,” says Friedland. “My work exploring human impacts on forested ecosystems and explaining environmental science to broader communities is very rewarding to me. I’ve collaborated with many colleagues and students in this work and all of us are being acknowledged by this honor.”

“I am delighted to see that Andy’s work is being recognized by AAAS with this highly merited honor,” says Elizabeth Smith, the Paul M. Dauten Jr. Professor of Biological Sciences, associate dean for the sciences, and a professor in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Graduate Program. “Given heightened concerns about global warming, energy, and the environment, his work on the carbon cycle and lead distribution in northern forests and the implications of harvesting wood as a fuel source has only increased in significance and relevance since his initial appointment to the Dartmouth faculty.” 

New Fellows will be presented with an official certificate and a gold and blue (representing science and engineering, respectively) rosette pin on Saturday, Feb. 13, at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2016 AAAS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

Additional Dartmouth faculty (active and emeriti) who are AAAS fellows:

  • Christopher Amos, chair and professor of biomedical data science, professor of community and family medicine, professor of genetics, associate director for population sciences, Norris Cotton Cancer Center
  • Charles K. Barlowe, chair and professor of biochemistry, Geisel School of Medicine
  • Ta Yuan Chang, professor of biochemistry, Geisel School of Medicine
  • Ambrose Cheung, professor of microbiology and immunology, Geisel School of Medicine
  • Robert Christy, professor emeritus of physics 
  • Duane Compton, interim dean and professor of biochemistry, Geisel School of Medicine
  • Michael Dietrich, professor of biological sciences, professor of history and philosophy of biology
  • Jay Dunlap, chair and professor of genetics, professor of biochemistry, Geisel School of Medicine
  • John Gilbert, professor emeritus of biological sciences
  • Carolyn Gordon, the Benjamin Cheney Professor in Mathematics
  • Richard Granger, professor of psychological and brain sciences
  • Mary Lou Guerinot, the Ronald and Deborah Harris Professorship in the Sciences, professor of biological sciences, professor in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Graduate Program
  • Phil Hanlon ’77, Dartmouth College president, professor of mathematics
  • Todd Heatherton, the Lincoln Filene Professor in Human Relations, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences
  • Russell Hughes, the Frank R. Mori Professor Emeritus and research professor of chemistry
  • Mark A. Israel, professor of pediatrics, professor of genetics, Geisel School of Medicine, director of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center.
  • Jennifer Loros, professor of biochemistry, professor of genetics, Geisel School of Medicine
  • Martin Lubin, professor emeritus of microbiology and immunology, Geisel School of Medicine
  • Lee Lynd, Thayer ’83 and ’87, the Paul E. and Joan H. Queneau Distinguished Professor in Environmental Engineering Design at Thayer School of Engineering
  • C. Robertson McClung, professor of biological sciences, the Patricia F. and William B. Hale 1944 Professor in the Arts and Sciences, professor in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Graduate Program 
  • M. Douglas McIlroy, adjunct professor of computer science
  • Mark McPeek, the David T. McLaughlin Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences
  • George O’Toole, professor of microbiology and immunology, Geisel School of Medicine
  • Elmer Pfefferkorn, professor emeritus of microbiology and immunology, Geisel School of Medicine, professor emeritus of mathematics
  • Carl Pomerance, the John G. Kemeny Parents Professor of Mathematics, Emeritus
  • Roger P. Smith, professor emeritus of pharmacology and toxicology
  • Hilda Weyl Sokol, professor emeritus of physiology and neurobiology, Geisel School of Medicine
  • Melvin Spiegel, professor emeritus of biological sciences
  • Michael Sporn, the Oscar M. Cohn ’34 Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, professor of medicine, Geisel School of Medicine
  • Harold Sox, professor emeritus of medicine, and of The Dartmouth Institute, Geisel School of Medicine
  • Ronald K. Taylor, professor of microbiology and immunology, Geisel School of Medicine
  • William T. Wickner, the James C. Chilcott ’20 Professor in Pharmaceutical Sciences, professor of biochemistry, Geisel School of Medicine
  • Scott Williams, professor of genetics, Geisel School of Medicine

 

Joseph Blumberg