The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the Science family of journals, elected Willie E. May, to serve as the association’s president-elect. AAAS was founded in 1848 and includes more than 250 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. The nonprofit AAAS is open to all and fulfills its mission to “advance science and serve society” through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education, public engagement, and more.
Dr. May’s one-year term as president-elect begins immediately, followed by one year as AAAS president and one year as immediate past-president.
Since 2018, Dr. May has served as vice president of research and economic development and professor of chemistry at Morgan State University in Baltimore. Previously, he served as the U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
“I am honored to serve as the new president-elect of AAAS. During my term, I will prioritize partnering with key leaders to enhance the U.S. STEMM workforce by proposing ways the nation can expand access and opportunities to education. I stand ready to support AAAS as it embarks on a mission to transform the way the scientific enterprise realizes benefits to society at large,” said Dr. May.
Dr. May was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and grew up there during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry with a minor in mathematics from Knoxville College in Tennessee. He holds a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Maryland College Park.
