Million Tadege, professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at Oklahoma State University, was recently named a 2025 American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow for his innovative work in understanding leaf blade development and biomass functional genomics.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is one of the world’s largest general scientific societies and publisher of the Science family of journals. The latest class of Fellows included 449 scientists, engineers and innovators across 24 AAAS disciplinary sections, “who have demonstrated research excellence, made notable contributions to advance science and delivered important services to their communities,” according to Sudip S. Parikh, AAAS chief executive officer and executive publisher of the Science family of journals.
“These Fellows and their accomplishments validate the importance of investing in science and technology for the benefit of all,” Parikh said.
AAAS has been honoring Fellows with this lifetime recognition since 1874 and recognizes Fellows for their achievements across disciplines, from research, teaching and technology to administration in academia, industry and government to excellence in communicating and interpreting science to the public.
“Being selected as an AAAS Fellow means that the broad scientific community has recognized Million for a distinguished and sustained impact on the science of plant functional genomics,” said Wade Thomason, head of the OSU Department of Plant and Soil Sciences.
Tadege was named a Fellow for “distinguished contributions to the field of plant biology, particularly for development of functional genomics resources for biomass and leguminous crops,” according to an AAAS announcement.
Tadege was recognized for his ongoing work with leaf size regulation and leaf patterning in legumes, developmental phase transition in sorghum and the development of functional genomics resources in Medicago, chickpeas and sorghum.
Tadege’s current research is looking to understand how patterns govern leaf blade development to form different leaf shapes and sizes in legumes and the impact these patterns would have on photosynthetic efficiency and biomass yield accumulation. Tadege’s lab recently published a paper illustrating that grain sorghum plants can be genetically programmed to not flower in more than three years, which is key to understanding how sorghum plants measure the length of time and know the time of the day.
“I am thrilled to be recognized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, one of the oldest and most prestigious scientific honors in the United States, that honored the likes of Thomas Edison and several Nobel Laureates,” Tadege said. “I have been lucky to have very talented and dedicated postdocs and graduate students who sacrificed their evenings and weekends to make a difference at the frontiers of plant science. I am grateful to all who contributed over the years. This recognition is a testament to the quality of work we do at OSU, and I am proud to be a part of it.”
The new Fellows received a certificate and a gold and blue rosette pin (representing science and engineering) to commemorate their election and were celebrated at a forum on May 29, 2026, in Washington, D.C.
