Vasant Honavar, professor and Edward Frymoyer Chair of Information Sciences and Technology (IST), has been elected to serve on the Electorate Nominating Committee (ENC) of the Information, Computing, and Communication Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He will begin his three-year term on Feb. 16.
Honavar also directs the Center for Big Data Analytics and Discovery Informatics at Penn State and serves as an associate director of the Penn State Institute for Cyberscience.
The AAAS, founded in 1848, is the first national organization established in the United States to promote the advancement of all areas of science and engineering. The AAAS is organized into 24 sections representing different scientific and engineering disciplines. The mission of AAAS includes: enhancing communication among scientists, engineers, and the public; promoting and defending the integrity and use of science; strengthening support for the science and technology enterprise; and advancing international cooperation in science.
“AAAS represents the interests of science in the United States,” Honavar said. I am looking forward to serving the scientific community, and especially, the computing and information sciences community in this role.”
This is not the first time Honavar has stepped up to serve to the scientific community at the national level. He currently serves on the Computing Research Association’s Computing Community Consortium Council where he co-chairs the Convergence of Data and Computing Taskforce. Previously, he served on an inter-governmental personnel act appointment as a program director at the National Science Foundation where, among other things, he led the big data program.