The Oscar nominees may have been just recently released, but one professor feels like she just won one.

College of Education professor Molly Weinburgh has been named as a fellow for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a prestigious society for scientists.

“It’s like winning an Academy Award,” Weinburgh said. “It’s a way of acknowledging outstanding performance. There are only a few people who have this.”

Weinburgh, the director of TCU’s Andrews Institute of Mathematics & Science Education, is the university’s first representative to be selected as a fellow to the society. Weinburgh was selected under the category of science education.

The entire process for her selection took three years, she said. After first being nominated by three past fellows, Weinburgh had to put together a set of materials to present to the society. Following that, Weinburgh waited for a committee to review her case. It was then that the society selected her to be honored as a fellow.

She was humbled and honored to receive the award, she said. And, in a fashion similar to the Oscars, Weinburgh wanted to give thanks to others for her award, especially the university administration.

Both the College of Education administration and the university administration has always been supportive of her, she said.

While the award helped distinguish Weinburgh’s career, it also affected the university as a whole. The university would share the glory of the honor and the college would get to profit from it, Weinburgh said. 

Becky Taylor, the associate dean of the College of Education, agreed and said the award would raise the profile of TCU’s education college.

The exclusivity and prestige of Weinburgh’s award would increase the prestige of the education college, Taylor said. She also said she felt Weinburgh fully deserved the selection.

“She’s not a 9-to-5 person,” Taylor said. “She’s in earlier than everybody and leaves later than everybody. She’s incredibly accomplished and for good reason.”

In addition to being the director of TCU’s Andrews Institute of Mathematics & Science Education, Weinburgh serves as the director of the graduate program in science education. She also teaches classes in undergraduate programs and teaches honors classes in biology.

The selection to the AAAS is not the first honor for Weinburgh. Last year, she was awarded TCU’s Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Achievement as a Creative Teacher-Scholar.

In an email, Chancellor Victor Boschini described Weinburgh as an “outstanding faculty member,” who is at the top of her field in both teaching and research.

Weinburg is set to receive her certificate from the AAAS at a ceremony in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Feb. 18.