Awards & Accolades
(From left) A. Elizabeth "Betsy" Arnold, professor of plant sciences; Carol Gregorio, professor and head of the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine; Cecile McKee, professor of linguistics.
Dante Lauretta, Regents Professor of planetary sciences and principal investigator of the OSIRIS-REx mission
Arnold, Gregorio and McKee named AAAS fellows
Three faculty members have been elected 2021 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world's largest general scientific society.
A. Elizabeth "Betsy" Arnold, professor of plant sciences, Carol Gregorio, professor and head of the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, and Cecile McKee, professor of linguistics, are among the 564 scientists, engineers and innovators being recognized with one of the most distinct honors in the scientific community.
Arnold is being recognized for her contributions to the fields of ecology and evolution, particularly for her studies of plant microbiomes in wild and agricultural ecosystems. Gregorio is being honored for her work toward understanding heart and skeletal muscle structure, function and disease. McKee is being recognized for her contributions to developmental psycholinguistics and designs for demonstrating children's knowledge of syntax.
AAAS fellows are elected each year by their peers serving on the Council of AAAS, the organization's member-run governing body. The organization is planning to hold an in-person gathering later this year to celebrate the new fellows.
Read more about the University of Arizona fellows on the University's news website.
The Space Foundation honors the OSIRIS-REx team
The NASA-University of Arizona OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission team has won the 2022 John L. "Jack" Swigert Jr. Award for Space Exploration from the Space Foundation, a nonprofit organization that advocates for space exploration and space-inspired industries.
The award recognizes extraordinary accomplishments in the realm of space exploration and discovery. Swigert served on the Apollo 13 lunar mission.
"The OSIRIS-REx team represents the pinnacle of human achievement," said Dante Lauretta, Regents Professor of planetary sciences and principal investigator of the OSIRIS-REx mission. "Team members have diverse backgrounds, skill sets and expertise. Together, we overcame numerous challenges to successfully collect a massive sample from asteroid Bennu."
The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft was launched Sept. 8, 2016, and reached Bennu in 2018. It made contact with Bennu in October 2020 and left in May 2021. The sample is scheduled to return to Earth in September 2023.
Founded in 1983, the Space Foundation serves the global space ecosystem through corporate membership, sponsorship, fundraising and grants. The organization will present the award April 4 during the 37th Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Read more about the team and the honor on the University's news website.
We want to know about your good news. If you, your team or a colleague has won any major awards, been honored nationally or internationally, or accomplished some other major feat that deserves recognition, let us know about it.
To submit your news, please send us an email with the following information:
- Name of the person, team or unit receiving the honor with full University titles.
- Information about the award/honor and the organization that granted it. Please include a link to the official announcement of the award/honor.
- When the honor was announced and when it will be presented (or was presented).
- A photo of the honoree. If others appear in the photo, please provide their names and identifying information, such as their University title/affiliation.
Questions? Contact Lo Que Pasa at uaatwork@arizona.edu.