Fischhoff named 2021 AAAS Fellow

Baruch Fischhoff, a professor in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy and the Institute for Politics and Strategy, has been named a 2021 fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He is one of four CMU faculty named to AAAS this year.

The lifetime distinction recognizes important contributions to STEM disciplines, including pioneering research, leadership within a given field, teaching and mentoring, fostering collaborations, and advancing public understanding of science.

Fischhoff’s research examines the judgments of experts and laypeople related to personal and public policy decisions involving health, safety, and the environment. He has worked on topics as diverse as climate change, intelligence analysis, pandemic disease (including COVID-19), nuclear power, personal safety, trauma triage, breast cancer, pharmaceutical regulation, and sexually transmitted infections.

Fischhoff is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine, as well as former president of both the Society for Judgment and Decision Making and the Society for Risk Analysis. He has chaired committees of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, and the National Academy of Sciences. He is also a fellow of American Psychological Association (APA), Association for Psychological Science, Society of Experimental Psychologists, and Society for Risk Analysis.

He has received the APA Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology, Carnegie Mellon’s Ryan Award for Meritorious Teaching, a Doctorate of Humanities honoris causa from Lund University, an Andrew Carnegie Fellowship, and the Sigma Xi William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement.