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Syracuse University’s announcement of three American Association for the Advancement of Science fellows, the largest cohort ever selected from SU in a single year, emphasizes its standing as a research institution.

Physics professors Duncan Brown and Lisa Manning, alongside Information Science professor Kevin Crowston, will join an elite group of scholars recognized for their “scientifically or socially distinguished efforts” to advance science. The fellowship has been awarded across institutions annually since 1874, with fellows recognized for their current research work or past publications.

The new fellows will be formally inducted into AAAS during a ceremony in late May.

The announcement signals a rising national ranking for the university’s research efforts, Brown said.

“If you look at the number of nominations we have compared to the size of our university, we are punching above our weight,” Brown said.

Brown serves as SU’s vice president for research and was a key contributor to the September 2015 discovery of gravitational waves.

“We pursue research to attract and retain the best faculty because they’re the best people to work with our students and help our students transition from being consumers of knowledge to creators of new knowledge,” Brown said.

Manning, a 2019 fellow of the American Physical Society and former founding director for the BioInspired Institute, emphasized the importance of student involvement in professional research.

“This isn’t just an award for me,” Manning said. “It’s an award for all of those students who have worked on all of these cool projects in the past.”

Manning said she often brings her research into introductory physics classes to show freshmen the impact of the science she teaches.

For Professor Crowston, his appointment marks the first time a faculty member from the iSchool has received the AAAS honor.

“Partly, I think that AAAS is becoming a little bit more holistic, and partly the university does have these strengths in a broader range of disciplines,” Crowston said.

Crowston said his work on coordination theory, examining how humans can effectively communicate and collaborate, dates back to his PhD thesis from 25 years ago. He said his work has “stood the test of time.”

Biology professor Jason Wiles, elected an AAAS fellow in 2023, noted the appointment of three different faculty members in a year supports the idea that SU fellows and nominees represent a “rising profile” for the university’s research efforts.

Wiles explained that the election process is incredibly selective, as it takes only two votes against a candidate at either the Section or Council levels to exclude a nominee.

“Election as a fellow of AAAS is a very prestigious mark of distinction, but too few understand how truly rare and special of an honor it is,” Wiles said.

Interim Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science Jennifer Ross characterized Manning and Brown as “teacher scholars” who care deeply about incorporating students into their research.

Ross suggested that both Manning and Brown have the chance to reach the National Academy of Sciences, which is considered an even higher level of prestige in the scientific community.

Charles Driscoll, an environmental systems professor and 2017 AAAS fellow, added the fellow designation serves as a “feather in your cap” after a long career in teaching and research.

“It sends a message to the broad scientific community or research community that these individuals are recognized for doing very high quality research, very meaningful and very impactful,” Driscoll said.

Driscoll also mentioned the fellowship allowed him to lead interdisciplinary workshops on a “national stage,” where he could showcase his scholarly work to other national fellows.

George Langford, a 2013 fellow and a professor emeritus of biology, emphasized the appointment of three professors for the AAAS serves as a metric for evaluating SU as a research university.

“I hope that this is a trend of continuing increase in the numbers who are nominated each year from Syracuse University,” Langford said.

For Brown, the recognition represents SU’s commitment to creating and learning across a variety of diverse fields, including allowing student collaboration on research studies.

“Syracuse is in that sweet spot where we are big enough to have outstanding research but small enough that undergraduates can work with those faculty,” Brown said.

Published on May 5, 2026 at 12:23 am