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headshots of Overtoun Jenda and Haibo Zou

Two Auburn faculty members, Overtoun Jenda and Haibo Zou, were recently named as fellows by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), one of the world's largest general scientific societies and the publisher of the "Science" family of journals.

The AAAS fellows are a group recognized for their achievements across disciplines, from research, teaching and technology to administration in academia, industry and government, to excellence in communicating and interpreting science to the public.

Jenda and Zou were part of a 2024 class of 471 distinguished scientists, engineers and innovators across 24 academic disciplines selected for the honor.

Jenda, SPARK STEM Institute executive director and professor of mathematics in the College of Sciences and Mathematics, also heads the Office of Special Projects and Initiatives. He was honored for his "research in homological algebra and commutative algebra and for extensive mentoring and service contributions for the promotion and advancement of underrepresented groups in mathematics, both nationally and internationally."

Prior to coming to Auburn, Jenda was a faculty member at the universities of Kentucky, Botswana and Malawi. His areas of research are homological algebra and commutative algebra, and he has published three graduate and research level books and numerous research articles in this area. He has also published a number of research articles on STEM education.

Zou is professor and associate chair of the Department of Geosciences. His research interests include isotope geochemistry, igneous petrology, geochemical modeling, mass spectrometry and tectonics.

In addition to his recent selection as an AAAS fellow, Zou is also a fellow of the Geological Society of America. Before joining the Auburn faculty in 2008, he served as a lecturer at the University of California-Los Angeles and as an adjunct professor at Pierce College.

"This year's class of fellows are the embodiment of scientific excellence and service to our communities," said Sudip S. Parikh, AAAS chief executive officer and executive publisher. "At a time when the future of the scientific enterprise in the U.S. and around the world is uncertain, their work demonstrates the value of sustained investment in science and engineering."

Submitted by: aew0025@auburn.edu