Five UF faculty members have joined UF President Kent Fuchs as fellows of an international science association.
The researchers, John Ewel, Hugh Fan, Alice Harmon, Robert Holt and Laura Ranum, were inducted as fellows in the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Boston on Saturday. They were nominated in November, along with 386 others, UF spokesperson Steve Orlando wrote in an email.
The association is a nonprofit dedicated to recognizing the advancement of science and technology, according to its website. Fuchs, who has been a fellow since 2010, was in Boston supporting the UF inductees, Orlando said.
Hugh Fan, who has worked at UF for 14 years, became a fellow for studying microfluidics, or analyzing fluids in extremely small amounts, which will be used in technology and medicine.
“It’s incredible the amount of distinguished people you can come across at these kinds of events,” he said. “I’ve encountered a three-star general, an ambassador to the United States and the science minister of a country while being in Boston.”
Robert Dan Holt, a researcher with the UF ecology department, was recognized for studying the complexities of ecology and evolution.
Holt said his fortune of working with renowned scientists and having others discover his papers advanced his career to earn him the fellowship.
“I’ve collaborated with some great faculty and students over my career,” he said. “What one does is rarely an expression solely of one’s own talents.”
