Virginia Tech leads state's universities with most 2014 American Association for Science Fellows

Three Virginia Tech professors have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, according to an announcement from the world's largest scientific society.

Virginia Tech’s total of three new Fellows leads all Virginia universities. They are among 401 scholars elected to the association in 2014.

Honored were Madhav V. Marathe, director of the Network Dynamics and Simulation Science Laboratory at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute; Joseph C. Pitt, a professor of philosophy in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences; and Stephanie Shipp, deputy director of the Social and Decision Analytics Laboratory of the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at the Virginia Tech Research Center — Arlington.

The new Fellows will be given an official certificate and a gold and blue rosette pin — the colors representing the disciplines of science and engineering — on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015, during the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in San Jose, California. 

Their names will be formally announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science on Nov. 28.

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 three current Fellows so long as two of them are not affiliated with the nominee’s institution.

Madhav V. Marathe

Marathe, a professor of computer science in the College of Engineering, was named a Fellow for contributions to high performance computing algorithms and software environments. 

He had previously been recognized by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers — known as IEEE — for his work in developing large-scale models of socio-technical networks and has received distinguished alumni awards at the University of Albany and the Award for Research Excellence at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, as well as the George Michael Distinguished Scholar Award at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In addition, he is an Association for Computing Machinery Fellow.

Marathe received his bachelor's degree from the Indian Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Albany.

Joseph C. Pitt

Pitt, the interim head of the Department of Philosophy, was named a Fellow for contributions to the history and philosophy of science, particularly for his work on pragmatism, Galileo, and the impact of technology on scientific change. 

After identifying philosophical research questions associated with engineering design, Pitt’s views entered mainstream discussion via his writing, including two of his four books, “Thinking about Technology” and “Doing Philosophy of Technology.” 

Pitt is the founding editor of the journal Perspectives on Science: Historical, Philosophical, Social, published by MIT Press, and the former editor-in-chief of Techné: Research in Philosophy and Technology. Pitt’s historical interests include David Hume, a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist.

Pitt received his bachelor’s degree from the College of William and Mary and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario (Canada).

Stephanie Shipp

Shipp has held leadership positions in federal statistical and science agencies such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, among others.  She was named a Fellow for social and behavioral sciences research and leadership in translating science into action for the betterment of society. 

Shipp is also a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and has received a Bronze Medal from the U.S. Department of Commerce. A former senior researcher at the Science and Technology Policy Institute, her work on social sciences research is lauded for ushering in the “all data” revolution.

Shipp received her bachelor's degree from Trinity College (Washington, D.C.) and a doctoral degree from George Washington University.