University of California Leads Nation with 50 Researchers Elected AAAS Fellows

The University of California topped all institutions in this year’s election to the American Association for the Advancement of Science, with 50 UC-affiliated researchers named 2025 AAAS fellows, the university announced. AAAS, founded in 1848 and publisher of the Science family of journals, revealed the Class of 2025 on March 26.

UC-affiliated scientists make up about 11 percent of the 449 fellows named nationwide. The honorees span every UC campus and two UC-affiliated national laboratories.

UC Berkeley led UC campuses with 11 fellows, followed by UC San Diego with eight and UC Irvine with seven. Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory were also recognized.

AAAS fellowship is a lifetime distinction honoring significant scientific, engineering and technological achievements that advance society. Election requires a record of cross-disciplinary accomplishment and approval by the AAAS Council.

Past AAAS fellows include UC Nobel laureates Jennifer Doudna and Barry Barish, as well as historical figures such as Thomas Edison, W.E.B. Du Bois, Grace Hopper and Maria Mitchell.

This year’s UC cohort reflects the breadth of the system’s research enterprise:

• Atmospheric and hydrospheric sciences: Amir AghaKouchak and Annmarie Carlton (UC Irvine), Kelly Caylor (UC Santa Barbara), Yongkang Xue (UCLA)
• Biological sciences: honorees from UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, UC San Francisco, UC Davis and Berkeley Lab
• Chemistry: Elizabeth Jarvo (UC Irvine), Richmond Sarpong and Felix Fischer (UC Berkeley/Berkeley Lab), Yadong Yin (UC Riverside), Robert Maxwell (Lawrence Livermore)
• Engineering and computing: Payam Heydari (UC Irvine), Farinaz Koushanfar and Ravi Ramamoorthi (UC San Diego), Ming-Hsuan Yang (UC Merced/Google DeepMind)
• Geology and geography: Asmeret Asefaw Berhe (UC Merced), Adina Paytan and Katharyne Mitchell (UC Santa Cruz), Marilyn Raphael (UCLA)
• Mathematics and physics: David Morrison (UC Santa Barbara), Stuart Brown (UCLA), Andrew Lankford (UC Irvine), Kimberly Budil (Lawrence Livermore)
• Medical sciences and neuroscience: Donald Ganem (UCSF, emeritus), Janine LaSalle (UC Davis), Michael Yassa, Jack Gallant, Frédéric Theunissen and Linda Wilbrecht (UC Irvine and UC Berkeley)
• Psychology: Özlem Ayduk (UC Berkeley), Elissa Epel (UCSF), Shelly Gable (UC Santa Barbara)
• Agriculture, food and renewable resources: Gitta Coaker (UC Davis), David Zilberman (UC Berkeley)
• Astronomy: Meenakshi Wadhwa (UC San Diego)

UC officials noted that federal research support is critical to the discoveries and innovations recognized by AAAS, fueling advances across fields from climate science and materials chemistry to neuroscience and planetary science.