Professor Steven Skiena has been elected a Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). This prestigious AAAS honor is bestowed upon a select few in recognition of extraordinary achievements in advancing science.
Skiena was specifically recognized within the AAAS section Information, Computing & Communication for his contributions in the fields of algorithms and data science, especially his collaborations on biological and social science research.
Skiena is on the far left with University and Codagenix researchers in the Stony Brook laboratory of Dr. Eckard Wimmer, Photo Credit: Stony Brook University
This has been a busy year for Skiena, who has been teaching popular algorithms and data science courses while serving as the Founding Director of the Institute of AI-Driven Discovery and Innovation at Stony Brook University. The Institute serves as a hub for AI research efforts at Stony Brook, centered around the overarching vision of Human-Machine Symbiosis, based on the idea that AI technology should amplify human intelligence instead of replacing it.
Skiena said, "It will be a great honor to join the roster of Stony Brook's previous AAAS fellows displayed at the Melville Library. Of course, this is much easier way to make the award wall than winning a Nobel Prize!" :-)
The tradition of naming AAAS Fellows began in 1874, and previous fellows include distinguished scientists such as astronomer Maria Mitchell, inventor Thomas Edison, and computer scientist Grace Hopper. This year 416 Fellows in 24 sections or categories share the honor, including a total of six from Stony Brook University, four of whom are part of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Professor Samir Das, chair of the CS department offered Steve his “heartiest congratulations” and noted that this is the “highest honor from the world's largest scientific organization!”
Officially announced by AAAS on November 27, 2018, Skiena will be recognized as a Fellow at the 2019 AAAS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C on February 16. According to AAAS, this year’s ”AAAS honorees represent a broad swath of scientific disciplines.” The noted accomplishments of honorees include “pioneering research, leadership within their field, teaching and mentoring, fostering collaborations and advancing public understanding of science.”
Skiena is a Distinguished Teaching Professor and a former Fulbright Scholar, who became part of the CS faculty in 1988. His research interests include data science, natural language processing and sentiment analysis, algorithms, and computational biology. Skiena is the author of over 150 technical papers and six books, including his popular text The Algorithm Design Manual.
The full list of 2018 Fellows was also announced in the Nov. 30th issue of the journal Science.
