Release date: Oct. 31, 2003

Two Emory Professors Named 2003 AAAS Fellows

Contacts:
Holly Korschun, hkorsch@emory.edu, 404-727-3990
Beverly Cox Clark, bclark2@emory.edu, 404-712-8780

Emory University faculty members Raymond Dingledine, professor and chairman of the pharmacology department in the School of Medicine, and Keiji Morokuma, professor of chemistry, have been elected as fellows by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Election as an AAAS fellow is an honor bestowed upon members by their peers.

Awarded to 348 members this year, these individuals were elevated to this rank because of their efforts to advance science or applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished. This year's AAAS Fellows will be announced in the Oct. 31 issue of the journal Science and will be presented with an official certificate and pin Saturday, Feb.14, during the 2004 AAAS Annual Meeting in Seattle, Wash.

Dingledine was selected as a fellow within the section on neuroscience, for "multiple distinguished contributions to the knowledge of the cell and molecular biology of brain glutamate receptors."

As one of the nation's leading molecular pharmacologists, Dingledine has devoted nearly three decades to studying the pharmacology of neurotransmitter receptors, including glutamate, which are responsible for communication between neurons in the brain. His work has significantly contributed to the current understanding of seizure development in brain cells and has laid the foundation for new approaches to drug therapy for epilepsy.

Within the past few years he has led a team of researchers investigating new drugs that would lessen the impact of strokes by reducing the damage that occurs when blood flow to the brain is obstructed. He joined the Emory School of Medicine faculty in 1992.

Morokuma was elected an AAAS fellow within the chemistry section for "leadership in the development of the theoretical tools to understand chemical reactivity, including the Morokuma energy decomposition and the ONIOM QM/MM method, and for leadership as director of the Institute for Molecular Science (Okazaki, Japan) and the Cherry Emerson Center for Computational Chemistry at Emory University."

Morokuma, the William Henry Emerson Professor of Theoretical Chemistry and director of Emory's Cherry Emerson Center, is a world-renowned quantum chemist who was recently re-elected president of the International Academy of Quantum Molecular Science. His latest work is on developing efficient methods to calculate the interaction energies of large molecules and assemblies of molecules. That research is widely used in biological and nanoscience modeling. He joined Emory in 1993.

The tradition of AAAS fellows began in 1874. Founded in 1848, AAAS has worked to advance science for human well-being through its projects, programs and publications, in the areas of science policy, science education and international scientific cooperation. AAAS and its journal, Science, form the world's largest general federation of scientists.

Emory University is known for its demanding academics, outstanding undergraduate college of arts and sciences, highly ranked professional schools and state-of-the-art research facilities. For more than a decade Emory has been named one of the country's top 25 national universities by U.S. News & World Report. In addition to its nine schools, the university encompasses The Carter Center, Yerkes National Primate Research Center and Emory Healthcare, a comprehensive metropolitan health care system.

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