Former Professor and Chair of our department, Alejandro Aceves, has been named a 2025 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), one of 449 scientists selected for this honor. The 2025 class of fellows was announced in March 2026. AAAS Fellowship is among the highest distinctions in the scientific community, recognizing individuals whose work has made significant scientific or societal contributions. Professor Aceves’ research centers on mathematical modeling in nonlinear optics and photonics, with additional contributions to climate change studies. His work has been supported by the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, and Department of Defense. Professor Aceves is a 2016  Elected Fellow of the Optical Society of America (OSA), and a 2021 Elected Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM).

Professor Aceves joined UNM in 1989, rose to the rank of Full Professor, and was our Chair from 2004-2008, he was a 1998-2001 University of New Mexico Regents Lecturer.   In 2008 he joined the faculty as a Full Professor at Southern Methodist University where he was Chair from 2015 to 2021. Besides working with his current PhD students and postdoctoral fellows,  he maintains close ties with New Mexico, including  collaborations with scientists at the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UNM, and he is an affiliate of the Theoretical Division at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Congratulations Alejandro!