Owen D. Jones, Vanderbilt’s New York Alumni Chancellor’s Chair in Law, has been elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Jones was selected a AAAS Fellow for his “behavioral, evolutionary, and neuroscience research in law” and for “leadership of nationwide networks of legal scholars, judges, and scientists.”
The AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society, and is publisher of the leading research journal Science. Election as a AAAS Fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers, a tradition begun in 1874. The Fellow designation recognizes “efforts on behalf of the advancement of science or its applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished.” The new class of Fellows will be recognized at a ceremony February 13, 2016, in Washington, D.C.
Jones’ work bridges law, biology and behavior, and is published in both scientific and legal journals. For two decades – often in collaborations across multiple fields – his work has used evolutionary biology, behavioral economics and neuro-imaging to learn more about how cognitive processes and the brain’s varied operations affect behaviors relevant to law and policy.
In 2014, Jones – who is also a professor of biological sciences – received the Joe. B. Wyatt Distinguished University Professor Award, which annually honors one member of the Vanderbilt University faculty for accomplishments that bridge multiple academic disciplines and yield significant new knowledge from research. Co-author of the new book Law and Neuroscience, Jones recently designed and currently directs the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Law and Neuroscience, a national interdisciplinary network, headquartered at Vanderbilt Law School, that explores through brain-imaging experiments and conceptual work both the promise and the limitations of modern neuroscience for criminal justice.
