The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) recently elected Oklahoma State University Regents Professor of Botany Dr. David Meinke as a 2013 AAAS Fellow. He is the first Arts and Sciences faculty member in the Biological Sciences to be named a Fellow of the AAAS. 

Meinke earned distinction for his pioneering work in the field of plant molecular genetics and in developing and promoting Arabidopsis as a model organism.  He continues to conduct genetics research that is focused on functional genomics of seed development and the identification of essential genes.

Meinke has published more than 80 scientific papers including the prestigious journals of Science, Nature, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA).  Since 1983, his research program has attracted more than $11.4 million in competitive extramural grant support primarily from The National Science Foundation, Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology, and the S. R. Noble Foundation.  Additionally he has served on many National Science Foundation advisory panels, and in 1998-99, he served as Program Director for the NSF Plant Genome Research Program in Arlington, Va.

A 1974 graduate in chemistry from the College of Wooster (OH), Meinke earned his Ph.D. in biology from Yale University in 1979.  He conducted postdoctoral work at Washington University in St. Louis from 1980-82.  He began his career at Oklahoma State as an assistant professor of botany in 1982 and was named Regents Professor in 1998.

The newly-elected AAAS Fellows were recognized by their peers for their efforts to advance science or its applications and will be honored at the AAAS Fellows Forum on Saturday Feb. 15, in Chicago.