10 Purdue faculty chosen as fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University is recognizing 10 faculty members who have been elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), among the highest distinctions in the scientific community.

The honor, awarded by one of the world’s largest general scientific societies, recognizes members whose efforts to advance science or its applications are scientifically or socially distinguished. Purdue’s 2025 class matches last year’s total, tying the highest number of Boilermakers elected in six decades.

“We are proud to once again have 10 Boilermakers named as fellows of the AAAS — a reflection of the global impact of their research and the strength of our faculty in advancing knowledge and innovation,” said Dan DeLaurentis, Purdue’s executive vice president for research. “Purdue joins AAAS in congratulating the new class of fellows on this distinguished honor.”

The new fellows from Purdue:

Arezoo Ardekani, professor of mechanical engineering (College of Engineering), is being honored for distinguished contributions to accelerate both engineering and fundamental understanding in fields where fluid mechanics intersect with biology and medicine. Ardekani’s research focuses on the development of computational models to understand the behavior of biological flows, complex fluids and particulate systems, as well as honing new technologies for characterization of biotherapeutics.

Ximena Bernal, professor of biological sciences (College of Science), is being honored for distinguished contributions in the field of behavioral ecology, particularly for advancing understanding of how natural enemies shape signal evolution and ecological dynamics and their responses to anthropogenic pressures. Bernal’s research integrates different levels of analyses — from neurophysiology and biomechanics to behavior and evolutionary responses — to understand animal communication systems and how they are affected by sensory pollutants.

Chris Clifton, professor emeritus of computer science (College of Science), is being honored for pioneering contributions to privacy-preserving data mining and machine learning. Clifton’s research has focused on techniques to enable meaningful data analysis while protecting individual privacy, spanning privacy technology, database support for distributed information and related security issues. Outcomes include foundational work on privacy-preserving data mining, data de-identification and secure analysis of sensitive information.

Douglas Comer, Distinguished Professor of Computer Science (College of Science) and professor of electrical and computer engineering (courtesy, College of Engineering), is being honored for distinguished contributions in the fields of computer networking, internetworking and operating systems, including seminal work on the TCP/IP protocols and influential textbooks that have shaped networking education and practice worldwide. Comer’s research and educational impact include pioneering internet protocol design, development of the Xinu operating system and leadership in networking research, making enduring contributions to how networks and systems are taught and understood.

Edward Delp, the Charles William Harrison Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (College of Engineering), is being honored for distinguished contributions to multimedia security and forensics, and image and video compression. Delp’s work is devoted to detecting whether an image or video is a deepfake, while his accomplishments in compression address the efficient storage and transmission of images and video. He also has made significant contributions to signal and image processing.

Stephanie Gardner, professor of biological sciences (College of Science), is being honored for distinguished contributions to the field of biology education research, particularly for the development and implementation of Purdue’s Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences and for national leadership and engagement as a Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education fellow. Gardner’s research focuses on revealing students’ and scientists’ approaches to science practices, including interdisciplinary problem-solving, constructing mechanistic explanations, experimental design, and creating graphs and graphical abstracts to understand and communicate data and experimental concepts.

Barry Pittendrigh, the John V. Osmun Chair in Urban Entomology (College of Agriculture), is being honored for distinguished contributions to improving global agriculture through scientific innovation and international collaboration. Pittendrigh has led research on integrated pest management, biocontrol agents, molecular basis of pesticide resistance, sustainable agricultural practices and strategies for scaling research for development innovations in the Global South.

Arvind Raman, the John A. Edwardson Dean of the College of Engineering and the Robert V. Adams Professor in Mechanical Engineering (College of Engineering), is being honored for his pioneering research in atomic force microscopy, which has shaped an entire field and advanced nanoscale imaging, biological research and materials innovation. Raman’s primary contributions center on accurately predicting, measuring and controlling the critical vibrations of AFM microcantilevers.

Weiguo Andy Tao, professor of biochemistry (College of Agriculture), professor of chemical biology and analytical chemistry (College of Science), and professor of medicinal chemistry and molecular pharmacology (courtesy, College of Pharmacy), is being honored for distinguished contributions in the field of biochemistry, particularly for pioneering work in biological mass spectrometry that has advanced understanding of molecular mechanisms in intracellular signaling and intercellular communication. Tao’s biomarker discovery research applies proteomic strategies to find candidate markers for diseases like cancers, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

Dongyan Xu, the Samuel Conte Professor in Computer Science (College of Science) and director of the Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS), is being honored for distinguished contributions in the fields of cybersecurity and cyber-physical security, including pioneering research on computer system security, malware defense and protective frameworks for cyber-physical systems. Xu’s work has helped advance both the theoretical and practical fronts of cyber and cyber-physical vulnerability discovery, analysis and mitigation.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research university leading with excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities in the United States, Purdue discovers, disseminates and deploys knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 106,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, locations and modalities, including more than 57,000 at our main campus locations in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 14 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its integrated, comprehensive Indianapolis urban expansion; the Mitch Daniels School of Business; Purdue Computes; and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.

Media contact: Trevor Peters, peter237@purdue.edu