News 2010: UMass Dartmouth Marine Science Dean receives national honor

News 2010: UMass Dartmouth Marine Science Dean receives national honor
UMass Dartmouth Marine Science Dean receives national honor

Dr. Farrington was elected as an AAAS Fellow for his "distinguished contributions to the field of biogeochemistry and organic geochemistry of the oceans and for leadership in graduate education in oceanography."

Washington D.C.-- Dr. John Farrington, dean of the UMass Dartmouth School of Marine Science and Technology, has been awarded the distinction of American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow. Election as a Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers.

This year 531 members have been awarded this honor by AAAS because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. New Fellows will be presented with an official certificate and a gold and blue (representing science and engineering, respectively) rosette pin on Saturday, February 20 at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2010 AAAS Annual Meeting in San Diego.

Dr. Farrington was elected as an AAAS Fellow for his "distinguished contributions to the field of biogeochemistry and organic geochemistry of the oceans and for leadership in graduate education in oceanography." Dr. Farrington, a UMass Dartmouth alumnus, was appointed interim dean last year, following a lengthy career at the McLean Laboratory at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.

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.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journal, Science (www.sciencemag.org) as well as Science Translational Medicine (www.sciencetranslationalmedicine.org) and Science Signaling (www.sciencesignaling.org). AAAS was founded in 1848, and includes some 262 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world, with an estimated total readership of 1 million. The non-profit AAAS (www.aaas.org) is open to all and fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives in science policy; international programs; science education; and more. For the latest research news, log onto EurekAlert!, www.eurekalert.org, the premier science-news Web site, a service of AAAS.

Dr Farrington lives in Falmouth MA.