March 27, 2025

AAAS names 5 UC Irvine researchers as 2025 fellows

Scholars are honored for their efforts to advance science or its applications

Five UC Irvine scholars have been newly elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (clockwise from top left): Kevork Abazajian, professor of physics and astronomy; Thomas Zimmermann, Chancellor’s Professor of informatics; Melinda Gormley, research and policy coordinator at the Center for Population, Inequality and Policy; Aaron Barth, professor of physics and astronomy; and Nalini Venkatasubramanian, professor of computer science.
Five UC Irvine scholars have been newly elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (clockwise from top left): Kevork Abazajian, professor of physics and astronomy; Thomas Zimmermann, Chancellor’s Professor of informatics; Melinda Gormley, research and policy coordinator at the Center for Population, Inequality and Policy; Aaron Barth, professor of physics and astronomy; and Nalini Venkatasubramanian, professor of computer science. UC Irvine

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Irvine, Calif., March 27, 2025 —Five University of California, Irvine researchers – working in disciplines as diverse as computer science, astronomy and cosmology, and science policy and ethics – have been elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society.

“It is an honor to congratulate the five UC Irvine researchers named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science,” said Hal Stern, UC Irvine provost and executive vice chancellor. “These scholars are making an impact across a range of fields with their groundbreaking work, and we are proud to have them as part of the UC Irvine community.”

This year’s new fellows, with AAAS citations, are:

  • Kevork Abazajian, professor of physics and astronomy – for seminal work in understanding the role of neutrinos in cosmology and new ways to detect sterile neutrino dark matter
  • Aaron Barth, professor of physics and astronomy – for distinguished contributions to the field of observational astronomy, including measurement of masses of supermassive black holes and reverberation mapping of active galactic nuclei
  • Melinda Gormley, research and policy coordinator at the campus’s Center for Population, Inequality and Policy, as well as lead instructor and coordinator at the NSF CAREER Institute at UC Irvine – for outstanding contributions to the integration into science policy of pressing issues of scientific integrity, professional ethics and the public communication of science in its historical context
  • Nalini Venkatasubramanian, professor of computer science – for distinguished contributions to the field of distributed computing, particularly developing the foundations of adaptive middleware for distributed systems and its realization through Internet of Things-enabled systems for smart, resilient communities
  • Thomas Zimmermann, Chancellor’s Professor of informatics andDonald Bren Professor of Information & Computer Sciences – for distinguished contributions to the field of software engineering, particularly in mining software repositories, defect prediction, and developer productivity and experience through innovative empirical research

This year, a total of 471 scientists, engineers, and innovators from 24 AAAS disciplinary sections are being honored for their contributions to advancing science and its applications. The fellows will receive a certificate and a gold-and-blue rosette pin, symbolizing science and engineering, respectively, to commemorate their election. They will be celebrated in Washington, D.C., on June 7, and will also be featured in the AAAS News & Notes column of this month’s issue of the journal Science.

With this latest cohort, UC Irvine has 154 AAAS fellows.

About UC Irvine’s Brilliant Future campaign: Publicly launched on Oct. 4, 2019, the Brilliant Future campaign aims to raise awareness and support for the university. By engaging 75,000 alumni and garnering $2 billion in philanthropic investment, UC Irvine seeks to reach new heights of excellence in student success, health and wellness, research and more. The School of Physical Sciences and the Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences play vital roles in the success of the campaign. Learn more at https://brilliantfuture.uci.edu/uci-school-of-physical-sciences and https://brilliantfuture.uci.edu/donald-bren-school-of-ics.

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. The campus has produced five Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UC Irvine has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. For more on UC Irvine, visit www.uci.edu.

Media access: Radio programs/stations may, for a fee, use an on-campus studio with a Comrex IP audio codec to interview UC Irvine faculty and experts, subject to availability and university approval. For more UC Irvine news, visit news.uci.edu. Additional resources for journalists may be found at https://news.uci.edu/media-resources.