MOULTRIE — A former Colquitt County High School valedictorian — now a professor at Northeastern University — has been named a lifetime fellow at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Dr. A. Randall Hughes was awarded the fellowship for her contributions in biological sciences for developing a fundamental understanding of the role of genetic diversity in the conservation and restoration of species that define ecosystems, according to an article at Northeastern Global News.

Hughes, a professor of marine and environmental sciences at the university’s campus in Boston, Massachusetts, graduated at the top of the Class of 1993 at CCHS, where she was also STAR Student and captain of the cheerleading team. She’s the daughter of then-football coach Jim Hughes and his wife Lillian, who are now residents of Thomasville.

“One of the things I appreciate about the AAAS recognition is that it’s about a body of work,” Hughes told Northeastern reporter Alena Kuzub. “You really have to have built up knowledge in an area. I’ve been able to do that by working with great collaborators, colleagues and, especially, my postdocs and students, who’ve really contributed to what we’ve been able to do over the years.” 

Hughes graduated in 1997 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Science in biology and public policy, and in 2006 received her Ph.D. in ecology from the University of California at Davis.

Over the years she has worked on both coasts, studying multiple habitats to see how biodiversity affects the evolution of the ecology.

She was among 471 scientists, engineers and innovators across 24 disciplinary sections to receive the 2024 fellowship from AAAS, which was announced March 31, 2025.

She and her husband, David Kimbro, also a professor at Northeastern University, have two children, James, 18, and Lilli, 16.