American Academy Inducts 225th Class of Scholars, Scientists, Artists, Civic,
Corporate and Philanthropic Leaders
Cambridge, MA, Saturday, October 8, 2005 - At an
induction ceremony here on Saturday, October 8, the American Academy of Arts
and Sciences will officially welcome its 225th class of Fellows.
Six newly elected members of the Academy will address
colleagues at the ceremony: television journalist Tom Brokaw;
physicist and Nobel laureate Eric Cornell; Harvard Law School
dean and former White House official Elena Kagan; historian
and University of Chicago provost Richard Saller; poet Susan
Stewart; and genetics pioneer Nancy Wexler. The
Academy’s President, Patricia Meyer Spacks, and its Executive
Officer, Leslie Berlowitz, will also speak.
This year’s class includes, among others, a researcher
who showed how the honeybee’s eyes and brain use the sky for navigation (Rudiger
Wehner), a pioneer in molecular chemistry who invented more than
200 synthetic materials (Edith Flanigen), the leading
authority on Peru’s oldest pre-Hispanic state (Christopher Donnan),
the inventor of the Argon laser (William Bridges), the
Principal Investigator for the Mars Exploration Rovers (Steven Squyers),
an Academy Award-winning screenwriter (Horton Foote), a
Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist (Art Spiegelman), the
co-founders of Google (Larry Page and Sergey Brin)
and the chairman and CEO of Time, Inc. (Ann Moore) and of the
Washington Post Company (Donald Graham).
The 196 Fellows and 17 Foreign Honorary Members who
make up the American Academy’s 225th class are leaders in scholarship,
business, the arts and public affairs. They come from 26 states and 10
countries and include Nobel and Pulitzer Prize laureates, MacArthur and
Guggenheim fellows. A complete list of new members is available on the
Academy’s website at: www.amacad.org
"The Academy takes great pride in honoring the
accomplishments of these outstanding and influential individuals," said Academy
President Patricia Meyer Spacks, who will officiate at the
day’s proceedings. "Throughout its history, Fellows of the Academy have been
dedicated to advancing intellectual thought and constructive action in America
and the world. We are confident that our newest group of Fellows will help us
fulfill that mission in significant ways."
"The Induction ceremony is an opportunity to both
welcome new members and celebrate the rich history of the organization, now
well into its third century of service to the nation," said Chief Executive Officer
Leslie Berlowitz."The Academy both honors excellence by electing members to its
fellowship and draws on that distinguished membership to address critical
social and intellectual issues. Its programs support practical policy
approaches to the most intractable problems of the day. It does so through
studies, publications, meetings and symposia. The unique structure of the
Academy allows members to conduct interdisciplinary studies that draw on the
full range of academic and professional fields of its members".
On Saturday, new members will learn about the Academy's
wide-ranging research program from current Fellows who lead some of the ongoing
studies. They include Academy projects on improving the state of the
humanities, the relationship between Congress and the Court, the future of the
Internet, and universal education, among other topics. New members also will
learn about the Academy's Visiting Scholars Program, designed to mentor a new
generation of scholars and thinkers.
New Fellows and Honorary Foreign Members are nominated
and elected by current members of the Academy. Members are divided into five
broad classes: mathematics and physical sciences; biological sciences; social
sciences; humanities and the arts; and public affairs, business and
administration.
Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences is an independent research center that conducts multidisciplinary
studies of complex and emerging problems. Current Academy research focuses on:
science and global security; social policy; the humanities and culture; and
education. With headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Academy's work is
advanced by its 4,600 elected members, who are leaders in the academic
disciplines, the arts, business and public affairs from around the world. (www.amacad.org).
To view full listing of 2005 Academy Fellows,
visit: www.amacad.org/news/new2005.aspx
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