UND’s Johnson, Lefevre to be named AAAS Fellows Feb. 19 in Washington, D.C.

UND alumnus Russell Lefevre and Phyllis Johnson, UND vice president for research and economic development, will be honored as Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Feb. 19 in Washington, D.C.

In December, the organization’s council elected 503 members as Fellows of AAAS. They will be recognized for their contributions to science and technology at the Fellows Forum during the AAAS annual meeting Feb. 17-21. The new Fellows will receive a certificate and a blue and gold rosette as a symbol of their distinguished accomplishments.

Lefevre, a Grafton, N.D., native, who lives in Redondo Beach, Calif., received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics from UND and is an adjunct professor of physics and electrical engineering with the University. He received a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He was awarded UND’s honorary Doctor of Letters degree in 2007.

“He’s been quite successful with various business ventures in California,” said Graeme Dewar, UND physics professor. “He worked with Sen. Jay Rockefeller’s office to get money for K-12 education. He checks on what we’re doing at UND and is really interested in our student rocket club.”

Johnson is one of six in the North Dakota University System honored by the AAAS. She was named the University’s vice president for research and economic development by President Robert Kelley in 2009. She earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from UND in 1971, her doctorate in physical chemistry from UND in 1976, and did postdoctoral work at the Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center.

Lefevre is a Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-USA (IEEE) with more than 30 years of experience as a radar system engineer. He was the 2008 IEEE president and currently chairs the organization’s committees on publication services and products, the smart grid, and products and services. He is past-president of the IEEE’s Aerospace and Electronics Systems Society.

Lefevre was the lead engineer at Hughes Aircraft Company for the first Navy airborne multi-mode radar. He also worked at Technology Service Corporation where he identified advanced technologies, performed R&D on promising new applications, developed business opportunities and strategies, and organized proposal activities. He had a lead role in securing more than 80 Small Business Innovations Research awards.

In 2001, Lefevre served an IEEE-USA congressional fellowship as Rockefeller’s science adviser. Lefevre’s work included leading the Senate effort to establish the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Math and Science Partnership Program, which is designed to make significant improvement in K-12 math and science education. He was responsible for inclusion of NSF’s Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, which strives to encourage science, technology, engineering and math majors and professionals to become K-12 science and math teachers.

Johnson came to UND from her position as a research associate with the Smithsonian Institute, where she worked with scientific policy. She also was adjunct assistant professor at the University of Maryland College Park.

Until 2008, Johnson served as director of the Beltsville Area for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Agricultural Research Service, a post that included responsibility for the flagship Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC), the largest and most comprehensive agricultural research center in the world.

— Patrick Miller, writer/editor, University Relations, 777-2412, patrick.miller@und.edu.