Argonne chemist Joe V. Michael awarded distinction of AAAS Fellow

Joe V. Michael, a senior chemist at Argonne National Laboratory, has been awarded the distinction of AAAS Fellow. Election as a Fellow is an honor bestowed upon members of the American Association for the Advancement of Science by their peers.

This year 471 members have been awarded this honor by AAAS because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. Michael and other new AAAS Fellows will be presented with an official certificate and a gold and blue rosette pin, representing science and engineering, respectively, on February 19 during the 2008 AAAS annual meeting in Boston.

As part of the Section on Chemistry, Michael was elected as an AAAS Fellow for his distinguished contributions to the field of chemical kinetics, particularly for this development of the application of shock-tube techniques for high-temperature studies.

Michael’s research has focused on working with the absolute rates of chemical reactions in thermally reacting systems. The bulk of Michael’s research has been in support of practical disciplines such as combustions chemistry and atmospheric chemistry.

Michael’s work is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

Besides having authored or co-authored more than 150 published scientific articles, Michael has given more than 100 lectures and presentations at colleges, universities and meetings of national and international scientific societies. Michael is also a member of the American Chemical Society, Sigma Xi, the New York Academy of Sciences, the Combustion Institute and the American Geophysical Union.

The tradition of AAAS Fellows began in 1874. Currently, members can be considered for the rank of Fellow if nominated by the Steering Groups of the Association’s 24 sections, or by any three Fellows who are current AAAS members (so long as two of the three sponsors are not affiliated with the nominee’s institution), or by the AAAS Chief Executive Officer. Each Steering Group then reviews the 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.

Argonne National Laboratory, a renowned R&D center, brings the world’s brightest scientists and engineers together to find exciting and creative new solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation’s first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America ’s scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.