Honors and awards

January 12, 2011

Two UW faculty members named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

Charles T. Campbell, the Lloyd E. and Florence M. West Endowed Professor of Chemistry, and G. Stanley McKnight, a professor of pharmacology, have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

They are among 503 scientists nationwide to be given the honor for their efforts to advance applications that are considered to be scientifically or socially distinguished.

Campbells group focuses on basic research involving environmental- and energy-related catalytic chemical reactions, interfaces in solar cells and microelectronics, and biochemical analyses. He was cited specifically for “many elegant elucidations of mechanisms, kinetics, and structure/function relationships in catalytic reactions, and his development of powerful new methods for characterizing surface reactions.” Campbell received his doctorate from the University of Texas at Austin in 1979 and joined the UW faculty in 1992.

McKnight has long been interested in molecular biology and its application to the study of hormones and other chemical signals in the body. His lab is noted for its many research findings on a messenger chemical produced inside living cells, called cAMP, which is critical to a myriad of cell activities. His lab examines, for example, how cAMP signaling complexes assemble and function in brain and heart cells. His current work is on genetic mutations that, by disrupting these signaling complexes in mice, lead to changes in energy metabolism, memory and learning and heart function. McKnights work has implications for understanding aging, weight regulation, fertility, drug addiction, and many other medical challenges. McKnight, who received his doctorate from Stanford University in 1974, joined the UW faculty in 1979.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science, which publishes the journal Science, is the worlds largest general scientific society.