Evan S. Michelson, program director for Energy and Environment and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, has been named a 2025 AAAS Fellow.

Michelson was recognized “for outstanding contributions to science philanthropy and for thoughtful and important support for the scholarship of measurement and evaluation of research and development activities.”

Dating back to 1874, the tradition of becoming an AAAS Fellow is among the most distinct honors within the scientific community. The 2025 Fellows class recognizes nearly 500 scientists, engineers, and innovators spanning 24 scientific disciplines for their scientifically and socially distinguished achievements.

Since joining the Foundation in 2014, Michelson has overseen strategy development and grantmaking in support of original interdisciplinary research on the economic, technological, and environmental consequences of energy production, consumption, and decarbonization. He also manages grantmaking for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, one of the largest, most detailed, and most cited astronomical surveys to ever exist.

In addition to his grantmaking activities, Michelson routinely leads conversations about the role and future of science philanthropy. He is the author of Philanthropy and the Future of Science and Technology (2020), a first-of-its-kind book that details the current state of science philanthropy and charts pathways for philanthropic institutions. He also regularly writes about science philanthropy for publications including as Issues in Science and Technology, Nature Climate Change, Nature Nanotechnology, and Energy Research & Social Science.

Michelson earned his Ph.D. from New York University. He also received an M.A. in international science and technology policy from The George Washington University, an M.A. in the philosophical foundations of physics from Columbia University, and a B.A. in philosophy of science from Brown University.