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AAAS honors KAUST Professor David Keyes as elected Fellow

Feb 27, 2019 Faculty Focus

KAUST Professor David Keyes has been elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and he officially received his recognition in Washington, D.C., during the week of February 18. File photo.

-By Alexander Buxton, KAUST News

KAUST Professor David Keyes has been elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world's largest general scientific society. Keyes was honored for fundamental research contributions at the interface of parallel computing and numerical analysis and his service to the mathematical sciences profession.

The Fellows, announced on November 27, 2018, were recognized during the week of February 18 at the AAAS Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., where they received an official certificate and the AAAS Fellows' gold and blue rosette pin, the colors of which represent the fields of science and engineering, respectively.

This year's Fellows, who represent a broad swath of scientific disciplines, were selected for diverse accomplishments including pioneering research; leadership within their field; teaching and mentoring; fostering collaborations; and advancing public understanding of science.

"I feel greatly humbled and honored to receive this award," Keyes said. "AAAS fellowship has significance beyond fellowship in the mathematical societies of SIAM and AMS because of the breadth of science and engineering that AAAS encompasses. I have deep respect for my academic peers, other new Fellows and for the AAAS mission—to advance science, engineering and innovation throughout the world."

KAUST Professor David Keyes is pictured with new Mathematics Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. (From left to right:) Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Yi Li, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY; Drexel Professor Timothy Kelley, North Carolina State University; and Professor David Keyes, director of the Extreme Computing Research Center, KAUST.

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At KAUST, Keyes is professor of applied mathematics and computational science and the director of the University's Extreme Computing Research Center. In October 2018, he joined the Office of the President with responsibilities for KAUST's global branding and strategic initiatives. Keyes has been elected as one of just six Fellows in the section on mathematics and is the only new Fellow in this area not working in the U.S. He is also the only elected new Fellow furthering science in Saudi Arabia.

"David has been a distinguished computational scientist for a long time, [and] such [a] prestigious recognition for achievements and service in his field is quite remarkable. This award from one of the top American science societies speaks volumes to David's global stature," stated KAUST President Dr. Tony Chan.

AAAS was founded in 1848 and includes nearly 250 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. The organization's annual tradition of recognizing leading scientists as Fellows dates to 1874. Since then, AAAS has honored scientists including astronomer Maria Mitchell, elected a Fellow in 1875; inventor Thomas Edison, elected in 1878; chemist Linus Pauling, elected in 1939; and computer scientist Grace Hopper, elected in 1963. Four of 2018's Nobel Prize laureates—James Allison, Arthur Ashkin, Frances Arnold and George Smith—are AAAS Fellows.

The full list of 2018 Fellows was published in last year's November 29 issue of Science.

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