2:19 p.m., Dec. 17, 2009----Kathryn Scantlebury, professor in the University of Delaware's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Dion Vlachos, Elizabeth Inez Kelley Professor of Chemical Engineering at UD, have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

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Each year, AAAS awards the distinction to members for “their efforts toward advancing science applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished.” Scantlebury and Vlachos will be honored along with the other new fellows on February 20, 2010, at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the society's annual meeting in San Diego.

Scantlebury was selected for her distinguished contributions to science education, particularly gender issues in science teacher preparation and in urban schools.

Vlachos was cited for his outstanding work on multiscale modeling and application to development, design, and elucidation of catalytic reaction mechanisms, nanotechnological processes, and signaling pathways in cancer.

Scantlebury was also recently selected as the recipient of the Outstanding Mentor Award by the Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE). She will receive that award at the 2010 Annual ASTE International Conference Awards and Business Luncheon on Jan. 16, 2010, in Sacramento, Calif. In 2008, she received ASTE's Outstanding Science Teacher Educator of the Year Award.

“Kate is an outstanding science educator and mentor, truly among the best,” says George Watson, interim chair of UD's College of Arts and Sciences and UNIDEL Professor of Physics and Astronomy. “I marvel at the number of significant and productive projects and collaborations that she has initiated and sustained. I've had the good fortune of working extensively with her on the Delaware GK-12 project; our success was predicated on her excellent network of public school teachers and administrators, many educated and mentored by Kate at UD. I am delighted that her broad and extensive contributions to science education have been recognized by AAAS and ASTE.”

In addition to her faculty appointment, Scantlebury is coordinator for secondary science education in UD's College of Arts and Sciences. Her involvement in science teacher education began in Perth, Western Australia, when she mentored new teachers in her classroom.

For more than two decades, she has used feminist theory and pedagogy to frame her research, which focuses on equity issues in various aspects of science teacher education, including urban education, preservice teacher education, and the professional development of teachers.

Scantlebury earned her doctorate in science education at Purdue University and joined the UD faculty in 1993. She has published more than 30 journal articles and 17 book chapters, and she is co-editor of a book on women in science education. She serves on the editorial boards of Cultural Studies of Science Education and Research in Science Education.

Vlachos is an internationally recognized leader in the field of multiscale modeling of complex processes, including energy conversion, film growth, nucleation, and biological systems. His research has been supported by a number of agencies, including the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy.

Earlier in 2009, a research group led by Vlachos was selected to receive a multi-million-dollar grant from DOE to establish an Energy Frontiers Research Center (EFRC) focusing on the development of innovative catalytic technologies for the efficient conversion of biomass such as trees and grasses into chemicals, electricity, and fuels.

He also heads a major NSF-funded effort to develop a nanoscale materials design framework and a DOE grant to identify low-cost, nano-sized catalysts that can spur the chemical conversion of liquid fuels into hydrogen for applications ranging from powering cars to heating homes.

“I am very happy to see Dion get this very well-deserved recognition,” says Michael Chajes, dean of UD's College of Engineering. “At UD, he has proven to be an outstanding leader of the Center for Catalytic Science and Technology, a prolific researcher and director of the recently awarded Catalysis Center for Energy Innovation, and an outstanding mentor and advisor of students. I am glad to see AAAS recognize him for the leadership role he has taken in the area of multiscale modeling.”

Vlachos earned his doctorate at the University of Minnesota. He joined the UD faculty in 2000.

Article by Diane Kukich