LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Susmita Datta, Ph.D., of the University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences has been named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Election as an AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.
This year’s AAAS Fellows will be formally announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science on November 28, 2014 and will be presented with an official certificate and a gold and blue (representing science and engineering, respectively) rosette pin on Saturday, February 14, during the 2015 AAAS Annual Meeting in San Jose, Calif.
As part of the Statistics category, Datta was elected as an AAAS Fellow for her distinguished contributions to methodological and collaborative research in bioinformatics, computational biology, and biostatistics, and for student training and promoting women in STEM fields.
In addition to her recent recognition by the AAAS, Datta is a fellow of the American Statistical Association, an elected member of the International Statistical Institute, and a Distinguished University Scholar at UofL. She also serves as president of the Caucus for Women in Statistics.
“We are extraordinarily proud of Susmita,” said K.B. Kulasekera, Ph.D., chair of the department of bioinformatics and biostastics. “Her leadership both in our field and her mentorship to other women in the sciences are remarkable.”
The tradition of AAAS Fellows began in 1874. Each steering group reviews nominations of individuals within its respective section and a final list is forwarded to the AAAS Council, which votes on the aggregate list.
The Council is the policymaking body of the Association, chaired by the AAAS president, and consisting of the members of the board of directors, the retiring section chairs, delegates from each electorate and each regional division, and two delegates from the National Association of Academies of Science.