UNIVERSITY PARK — Six Penn State professors have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the university announced today.

The association is the world’s largest scientific society and publishes the journal Science. Those chosen are honored for their their scientific or social efforts to advance science. The six elected from Penn State are among 702 selected.

The fellows at Penn State are:

Peter Hudson, the director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences and a professor of biology;

Sounder Kumara, a professor of industrial and manufacturing engineering;

Andrew Read, a professor of biology and entomology;

Nitin Samarth, head and professor of the physics department;

Matthew Thomas, professor of entomology; and

Karl Zimmerer, head and professor of the geography department.

Penn State President Rod Erickson congratulated the faculty for the honor.

“Faculty are the heart of our university, and the recognition of these distinguished scholars is further evidence that we are pushing the frontiers of knowledge in a wide variety of fields,” Erickson said. “These are outstanding researchers whose innovations and discoveries are benefiting our students in the classroom and society overall.”