The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society. Each year, certain AAAS Fellows are elected, an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers. Prof. Dirk Inzé (VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology) was named AAAS Fellow for 2019.
The nonprofit AAAS is open to all and has as its mission to 'advance science and serve society'. The society was founded in 1848 and includes more than 250 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals.
This year 443 members have been awarded the honor of being elected as AAAS Fellow because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. New Fellows will be presented with a certificate and a gold and blue (representing science and engineering, respectively) rosette pin on Saturday, 15 February at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2020 AAAS Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington (US).
Among them, VIB's Dirk Inzé. Prof. Inzé receives the fellowship for his lifelong dedication to plant science, and the translation of basic research on cell biology and stress biology to crop improvement in wheat and maize. Prof. Inzé is only the second VIB member and Flemish scientist ever to have been named AAAS Fellow, a testament to his unwavering dedication to excellent science with social impact.
Prof. Inzé says: ?"It is a great honor to become AAAS fellow and a fantastic recognition for my team's work to identify numerous genetic factors that contribute to crop yield. Precision breeding by genome editing will further enable to use this knowledge for the development of high-yielding and climate-resilient crops for the well-being of our planet."