American Academy Inducts 226th Class of Scholars, Scientists, Artists, Civic,
Corporate and Philanthropic Leaders
CAMBRIDGE, MA – At an induction ceremony here on Saturday, October 7, the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences officially welcomed its 226th class of Fellows.
Five newly elected members of the Academy addressed colleagues at the ceremony:
Nobel Prize-winning biochemist and Rockefeller University President Sir Paul Nurse;
pioneering meteorologist Joanne Simpson; former French Minister of Justice and current
member of the French Senate, Robert Badinter; businessman and philanthropist Fred
Kavli; and actor, writer and director Alan Alda. The Academy also installed Emilio
Bizzi, MIT Institute Professor and brain scientist, as its 44th President. Chief Executive
Officer Leslie Berlowitz also spoke.
This year’s class includes, among others, former Presidents William Jefferson Clinton
and George H.W. Bush; Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts; the chairman and
vice chairman of the 9/11 commission, Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton; actor and
director Martin Scorsese; choreographer Meredith Monk; conductor Michael Tilson
Thomas; New York Stock Exchange chairman Marshall Carter; and Kenneth
Chenault, Chairman and CEO of the American Express Company. The newly elected
class also includes: Elbert Rutan, designer and constructor of the Voyager, the first
vehicle to circumnavigate the earth without refueling and other renowned experimental
aircraft; Charles Thacker, designer of the world’s first personal computer workstation;
William Greenough of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, whose research
provided the first clear evidence for the structural basis of memory; Michael Dawson,
University of Chicago political scientist who has authored influential studies of race and
politics in the United States; Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig, who is a leading
expert on the legal and social consequences of the information revolution; Bancroft Prize-winning
historian William Cronon; National Book Award-winning author Xuefei Jin;
former U.S. Poet Laureate Rita Dove; Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel;
Los Angeles Times editor Dean Baquet; and New Yorker editor David Remnick.
Foreign Honorary Members in this year’s class come from Europe, Asia, South America
and the Middle East, and include National University of Singapore President Shih Choon
Fong; Japanese ecologist Yoh Iwasa; Ecuadorian biologist and Galapagos Islands
champion Eugenia Del Pino Veintimilla; British author and playwright William
Trevor; and Henri Loyrette, president and director of the Louvre Museum in Paris.
The 175 Fellows and 20 Foreign Honorary Members who make up the American
Academy’s 226th class are leaders in scholarship, business, the arts and public affairs.
They come from 24 states and 13 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 incoming Academy President Emilio Bizzi, who
officiated 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 extraordinary history of the organization, now in 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 pressing 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 learned 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, nuclear proliferation, the future of the media, 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 2006 Academy Fellows,
visit: www.amacad.org/news/new2006.aspx
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