December 8, 2011 — Michael Simpson of the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Also elected AAAS fellow was the University of Tennessee's Lee Riedinger, who leads a joint ORNL-UT graduate research center.
Simpson, of the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences and distinguished R&D staff, was cited "for distinguished contribution to the application of engineering principles to the study of biological systems and for leadership in the field of noise biology."
Simpson earned his bachelor's, master's and doctorate in electrical engineering from UT-Knoxville. He holds a joint faculty appointment with UT as a professor of materials science and engineering and he is assistant director of the ORNL-UT Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education.
In 2009, Simpson received the UT-Battelle Distinguished Scientist Award, in 2008, was elected a fellow of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and in 2007 was named a Battelle Memorial Institute Distinguished Inventor. He has authored or co-authored more than 140 publications. Simpson serves on the editorial review board for the International Journal of Natural Computing Research and the editorial board of the journal Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine.
Riedinger, director of the ORNL-UT Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education and former ORNL deputy director for science and technology, was cited for "for seminal studies of atomic nuclei at high spin and leadership in fostering inter-disciplinary research and graduate education collaborations between universities and Oak Ridge National Laboratory."
From 2000 to 2004, Riedinger served at ORNL as deputy director for science and technology and led several laboratory-wide research initiatives. From 2004 to 2006, he served as the ORNL Associate Laboratory Director for University Partnerships.
Simpson and Riedinger will be officially recognized at the AAAS meeting in February, in Vancouver, British Columbia.
UT-Battelle manages ORNL for DOE's Office of Science.