Dr. Steve Lommel, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences professor of plant pathology and assistant vice chancellor for research development, is one of two N.C. State University scientists elected as Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Lommel and Dr. Roger Narayan, N.C. State associate professor of biomedical engineering, are among 471 scientists to be honored by AAAS.

Lommel’s research focuses on how plant viruses regulate gene expression and move throughout a plant, causing a systemic infection. The goal of this work is to understand the process of viral systemic infection in sufficient detail to design control strategies that prevent the establishment and spread of a viral infection.

Lommel joined the N.C. State faculty in 1988. In 2001, he became assistant vice chancellor for research development. While he continues to serve in this capacity, this July he also was named interim associate dean for research in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He currently serves as N.C. State’s representative to the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis.

Lommel received his bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of San Francisco and his master’s and doctoral degrees in plant pathology from the University of California at Berkeley.

— NCSU News Services