Steve Cummer Named Fellow of the American Geophysical Union

Steve Cummer, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Duke University, has been elected a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union. The honor is bestowed upon only 0.1 percent of the society’s membership in any given year and recognizes scientific eminence in the Earth and space sciences. It acknowledges Fellows for their remarkable contributions to their research fields, exceptional knowledge and visionary leadership.

Much of Cummer’s geophysical research focuses on lightning, including developing new imaging systems that can follow a lightning bolt as it propagates through a cloud, and also studying unusual effects produced by lightning, such as gigantic jets, sprites, and high-energy terrestrial gamma ray flashes. He is also known for his work with metamaterials, developing acoustic applications such as a 3-D acoustic cloaking device and a method for harnessing “lost” power through pervasive WiFi and satellite communications waves, among others.

Cummer and the other 59 newly named Fellows will be recognized at the annual Honors Tribute to be held on December 14 at the 2016 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco. The American Geophysical Union consists of over 62,000 members from 144 countries. Its goal is to galvanize a community of Earth and space scientists that collaboratively advances and communicates science and its power to ensure a sustainable future.