Two Drexel University faculty members have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Garth Ehrlich, PhD, professor in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology at Drexel University College of Medicine; and Karen Moxon, PhD, professor in the Department of Neurobiology & Anatomy at the College of Medicine and professor at the School of Biomedical Engineering, Sciences & Health Systems, were both elected for the honor by their peers because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.

Ehrlich, the executive director for Drexel's Center for Advanced Microbial Processing and the Center for Genomic Sciences at the Institute for Molecular Medicine & Infectious Disease at the College, is being honored for distinguished theoretical and experimental contributions to the field of chronic bacterial pathogenesis, particularly for promulgating the biofilm paradigm and developing the distributed genome hypothesis.

Moxon, associate director for research in the School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, is being honored for her distinguished contributions to the field of neural engineering, particularly in advancing our understanding of the encoding of sensory and motor signals within the brain.

This year 401 members have been awarded this honor by AAAS. New fellows will be presented with an official certificate and a gold and blue (representing science and engineering, respectively) rosette pin on Saturday, February 14, during the 2015 AAAS Annual Meeting in San Jose, Calif.

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. Fellows must have been continuous members of AAAS for four years by the end of the calendar year in which they are elected.

Each steering group 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.