The Academy holds events virtually as well as in person around the country and the world that bring members, representatives of the Affiliates, and others together to explore topics of national and global concern. Academy President David W. Oxtoby provided opening remarks for most of the meetings listed below.
*Activity of a Local Program Committee or Representative
Virtual Meetings
September–October 2022
Eleven Roundtables on Democracy
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Danielle Allen (Harvard University); Daniella Ballou-Aares (Leadership Now Project); Sam Gill (Doris Duke Charitable Foundation); Stephen B. Heintz (Rockefeller Brothers Fund); Eric P. Liu (Citizen University); Martha McCoy (Everyday Democracy); Diane Wood (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit); Judy Woodruff (PBS)
November 2, 2022
Online Celebration of New Members Elected in 2022
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Nancy C. Andrews (Boston Children’s Hospital); Ann Fudge (Young & Rubicam Brands); John Lithgow (Actor, Author); David M. Rubenstein (The Carlyle Group); Deborah F. Rutter (The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts)
November 29, 2022
A Conversation with Freeman Hrabowski III: Reflections on Higher Education Leadership
FEATURED SPEAKER: Freeman A. Hrabowski III (University of Maryland, Baltimore County)
December 7–9, 2022
Reinventing Democracy: How Hometowns Are Strengthening America
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Danielle Allen (Harvard University); Jason Artman (Mendota, Illinois Public Schools); Sayu Bhojwani (Women’s Democracy Lab); Kristerfer Burnett (Baltimore City Council, District 8); Jerren Chang (GenUnity); Louise Dubé (iCivics); Archon Fung (Harvard University); Mark Gomez (California State University, Monterey Bay); Shamichael Hallman (Memphis Public Libraries); Linda Harris (City of Decatur, Georgia); Chris Hughes (Ranked Choice Voting Resource Center); Joseph Kahne (Civic Engagement Research Group); Malka Ranjana Kopell (Civity); Tom Latkowski (Los Angeles for Democracy Vouchers); Eric P. Liu (Citizen University); Martha McCoy (Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity); Anu Natarajan (Meta); Carmen Ortiz (City of Durham); Maria Perez (Democracy Rising); Pete Peterson (Pepperdine University); Rosemonde Pierre-Louis (NYU McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research); Kelleen Leishman Potter (Utah Ranked Choice Voting); Alex Renirie (Healthy Democracy); Max Resnik (City Bureau); Lynn Ross (Spirit for Change Consulting); Hollie Russon Gilman (New America); Dave Smith (X Sector Labs); Palma Joy Strand (Civity); Judy Woodruff (PBS); Richard Young (CivicLex)
January 18, 2023
Distrust, Political Polarization, and America’s Challenged Institutions
A Morton L. Mandel Conversation
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Henry E. Brady (University of California, Berkeley); Tracey Meares (Yale University); Lee Rainie (Pew Research Center); Kay Lehman Schlozman (Boston College)
January 26, 2023
Beyond Affirmative Action: Ensuring Diversity on Campus
An Affiliate Convening
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Mary Sue Coleman (University of Michigan); Christopher Edley (University of California, Berkeley)
March 16, 2023
A Conversation with Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman*
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Katalin Karikó (BioNTech); Drew Weissman (University of Pennsylvania); MODERATORS: Kathleen Hall Jamieson (University of Pennsylvania); Nora Newcombe (Temple University)
May 10, 2023
AI’s Implications for Equitable Access to Legal and Other Professional Services
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Jason Barnwell (Microsoft); Margaret Hagen (Stanford University); Andrew Perlman (Suffolk University); MODERATOR: Martha Minow (Harvard University)
May 17, 2023
A Radical Old Idea: Expanding the U.S. House of Representatives
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Danielle Allen (Harvard University); Earl Blumenauer (U.S. House of Representatives, Third Congressional District of Oregon); Derek Kilmer (U.S. House of Representatives, Sixth Congressional District of Washington); Yuval Levin (American Enterprise Institute); Norman Jay Ornstein (American Enterprise Institute); Pete Peterson (Pepperdine University)
July 27, 2023
The Promise of Proportional Representation for Democracy
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Andy Craig (Rainey Center); Steven Olikara (Millennial Action Project); Norman Jay Ornstein (American Enterprise Institute); Alora Thomas-Lundborg (Harvard Law School); Grant Tudor (Protect Democracy)
September 18, 2023
Language and Social Justice in the United States
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Julia C. Fine (The College of Saint Benedict & Saint John’s University); Anne H. Charity Hudley (Stanford University); Norma Mendoza-Denton (University of California, Los Angeles); Guadalupe Valdés (Stanford University); Walt Wolfram (North Carolina State University)
October 5, 2023
Safeguarding American Democracy: Civic Literacy for a Secure Nation
Cohosted with iCivics
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Danielle Allen (Harvard University); Louise Dubé (iCivics); James N. Mattis (Stanford University)
November 9, 2023
Launch of Report and Data Dashboard for a People-First Economy
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Katherine J. Cramer (University of Wisconsin–Madison); Anna Deavere Smith (New York University); Ann M. Fudge (Young & Rubicam Brands); Nicholas B. Lemann (Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism); Jacob Hacker (Yale University); David Leonhardt (The New York Times)
In-Person and Hybrid Meetings
Arizona
February 3, 2023
Phoenix, AZ
Member Luncheon in Phoenix*
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Stephen B. Heintz (Rockefeller Brothers Fund); Eric P. Liu (Citizens University); Steven Olikara (Millennial Action Fund)
February 3, 2023
Flinn Foundation, Phoenix
Our Common Purpose and Opportunities for Civic Renewal in Arizona
Cosponsored with the Arizona Civic Life Partnership
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Stephen B. Heintz (Rockefeller Brothers Fund); Eric P. Liu (Citizens University); Steven Olikara (Millennial Action Fund); and others; MODERATOR: Tania Munz (American Academy of Arts and Sciences)
September 11, 2023
University of Arizona Biosphere 2, Oracle
Arizona Program Committee Luncheon*
California
October 23, 2022
The Getty Center, Los Angeles
Los Angeles Member Reception*
FEATURED SPEAKERS: David W. Oxtoby (American Academy); Katherine E. Fleming (J. Paul Getty Trust)
October 25, 2022
The Ida and Cecil Green Faculty Club
University of California, San Diego and Virtual
San Diego Reception Featuring Barbara F. Walter*
FEATURED SPEAKER: Barbara F. Walter (University of California, San Diego); INTRODUCTION: M. Margaret McKeown (United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth District); Susan Taylor (University of California, San Diego)
February 2, 2023
Stanford University and Virtual
The Fragile Balance of Terror: Deterrence in the New Nuclear Age
Sponsored by the Center for International Security and Cooperation
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Rose McDermott (Brown University); Amy Zegart (Stanford University); Scott D. Sagan (Stanford University)
April 5, 2023
The Ida and Cecil Green Faculty Club
University of California, San Diego
San Diego Program Committee Luncheon*
May 9, 2023
Palo Alto, CA
Climate Action Discussion and Member Reception
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Christopher Field (Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment); Luiz Andre Barroso (Google LLC); Jon Alexander Krosnick (Stanford University); Anne Joseph O’Connell (Stanford Law School); Helen R. Quinn (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center)
May 10, 2023
The Faculty Club at University of California, Berkeley
Honoring Maxine Hong Kingston*
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Maxine Hong Kingston (University of California, Berkeley); Viet Thanh Nguyen (University of Southern California); INTRODUCTION: Carol T. Christ (University of California, Berkeley)
Colorado
June 12–15, 2023
Aspen, CO
Higher Education Forum at Aspen
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Mark Becker (The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities); Sian L. Beilock (Barnard College); Nancy E. Cantor (Rutgers University–Newark); Lynn W. Chang (Boston Conservatory at Berklee); Susan M. Dynarski (Harvard Graduate School of Education); Ann M. Fudge (American Academy of Arts and Sciences); Helene D. Gayle (Spelman College); Hahrie C. Han (Johns Hopkins University); Mary Dana Hinton (Hollins University); Kaye G. Husbands Fealing (Georgia Institute of Technology); Sonia Katyal (University of California, Berkeley); Earl Lewis (University of Michigan); Michael Lomax (United Negro College Fund); Gary S. May (University of California, Davis); Dwight A. McBride (The New School); Jamie Merisotis (Lumina Foundation); John C. Mitchell (Stanford University); Jennifer Mnookin (University of Wisconsin–Madison); Bobby Pace (Community College of Aurora); Laurie L. Patton (Middlebury College); Jessica Pisano (The New School); Vincent E. Price (Duke University); Emelia Probasco (Georgetown University); Madeline Pumariega (Miami Dade College); John Shattuck (Tufts University); Geoffrey Stone (University of Chicago); Ayanna Thompson (Arizona State University); Ben Vinson (Case Western Reserve University); Harry Williams (Thurgood Marshall College Fund)
Connecticut
October 16, 2023
Yale University
The Battle Over the Israeli Judiciary*
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Moshe Halbertal (New York University); Samuel Moyn (Yale University); MODERATOR: Isabela Mares (Yale University)
District of Columbia
December 13, 2022
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., Member Lunch Discussion
FEATURED SPEAKERS: James M. Fallows (Our Towns); Ann Fudge (Young & Rubicam Brands)
January 26, 2023
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Washington, D.C.
Book Launch–The Fragile Balance of Terror: Deterrence in the New Nuclear Age
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Nicholas Miller (Dartmouth University); Ankit Panda (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace); Scott D. Sagan (Stanford University); Heather Williams (Center for Strategic and International Studies)
October 23, 2023
Washington, D.C.
Dinner to Celebrate the Commission on Accelerating Climate Action’s Final Report Launch
FEATURED SPEAKER: James Marshall Shepherd (University of Georgia)
October 24, 2023
Washington, D.C., and Virtual
Report Launch: Forging Climate Solutions: How to Accelerate Action Across America
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Mustafa Santiago Ali (National Wildlife Federation; Revitalization Strategies); Christopher Field (Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment); Kealoha Fox (Institute for Climate & Peace); Laura Helmuth (Scientific American); David G. Victor (University of California, San Diego); Patricia Vincent-Collawn (PNM Resources)
Illinois
October 13, 2022
The Quadrangle Club, University of Chicago
STEM Representation*
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Young-Kee Kim (University of Chicago); Nergis Mavalvala (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
April 24, 2023
Chicago, IL
Chicago and Its Institutions: What is Our Responsibility to the City?*
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Paul Alivisatos (University of Chicago); Michael Schill (Northwestern University); MODERATOR: Andrea Sáenz (The Chicago Community Trust)
Massachusetts
September 9, 2022
Boston, MA
2022 Induction: Opening Celebration
Annual David M. Rubenstein Lecture
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Yo-Yo Ma (Cambridge, MA); David M. Rubenstein (The Carlyle Group)
September 10, 2022
Cambridge, MA
2022 Induction Ceremony
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Kimberlé Crenshaw (Columbia Law School; UCLA Law School); Mary Kay Henry (Service Employees International Union); Patricia Limerick (University of Colorado, Boulder); Sanjay Gupta (Emory University; Warner Media); Lisa T. Su (Advanced Micro Devices Inc.)
October 3, 2022
House of the Academy, Cambridge, MA
Reimagining the American Economy
A Morton L. Mandel Conversation
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Ann Fudge (Young & Rubicam Brands); Jim Himes (U.S. House of Representatives); Goodwin H. Liu (Supreme Court of California); Bryan Steil (U.S. House of Representatives)
November 15, 2022
House of the Academy, Cambridge, MA
Member Reception
March 28, 2023
House of the Academy, Cambridge, MA, and Virtual
The Fragile Balance of Terror: Deterrence in the New Nuclear Age–Book Event
FEATURED SPEAKERS: David Allison (Harvard Kennedy School); Giles David Arceneaux (University of Colorado); Emma Belcher (Ploughshares Fund); Matthew Bunn (Harvard Kennedy School); Christopher Clary (University of Albany); Nicole Grajewski (Harvard Kennedy School); Rebecca Davis Gibbons (University of Southern Maine); Matt Guasco (Harvard Kennedy School); Doreen Horschig (American Academy of Arts and Sciences); Robert Legvold (Columbia University); Nicholas Miller (Dartmouth College); Steven Miller (Harvard Kennedy School); Heather Williams (Center for Strategic and International Studies); MODERATORS: Mariana Budjeryn (Harvard Kennedy School); Francesca Giovannini (Harvard Kennedy School)
March 30, 2023
House of the Academy, Cambridge, MA, and Virtual
The Humanities and the Rise of the Terabytes
A Morton L. Mandel Conversation
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Danielle Allen (Harvard University); Jeffrey Brown (PBS)
April 13, 2023
House of the Academy, Cambridge, MA, and Virtual
Honoring Robert D. Putnam
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Antonia Hernández (California Community Foundation); Robert D. Putnam (Harvard University)
September 29, 2023
Cambridge, MA
2023 Induction: Opening Celebration
Annual David M. Rubenstein Lecture
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Sheila Johnson (Salamander Hospitality); John Lithgow (Actor, Author); David M. Rubenstein (The Carlyle Group)
September 30, 2023
Cambridge, MA
2023 Induction Ceremony
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Kerwin Charles (Yale School of Management); Oskar Eustis (The Public Theater); Katharine Hayhoe (The Nature Conservancy; Texas Tech University); Maja Matarić (University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering); Abraham Verghese (Stanford School of Medicine)
Induction 2023
Induction events for members elected to the Academy in 2022 and 2023 began with the Annual David M. Rubenstein Lecture on Friday evening. The program featured John Lithgow encouraging the new members to engage with the Academy. He talked about his experience as a cochair of the Commission on the Arts and shared a preview of his new television series on PBS–Art Happens Here–which grew out of the Academy’s work. His remarks were followed by a wide-ranging conversation between David M. Rubenstein and Sheila Johnson that illuminated aspects of Johnson’s childhood, her tremendous success in a range of business ventures, her experience owning sports teams, and her lifelong involvement in the arts. Later, members and guests enjoyed informal receptions in Cambridge.
At Saturday morning’s Open House, visitors learned about the work of the Academy, enjoyed reading acceptance letters that spanned from 1781 to 2023, and were invited to get involved in Academy activities. The afternoon Induction Ceremony, held at MIT, provided new members with the opportunity to learn about the traditions of membership, to hear from speakers from each of the five classes (see above for a list of the speakers), and to sign the Book of Members. The ceremony was followed by a celebratory reception.
Annual David M. Rubenstein Lecture
Receptions
Open House
Induction Ceremony
Celebration
October 17, 2023
House of the Academy, Cambridge, MA, and Virtual
Becoming Interplanetary and Action for Spaceship Earth
A Morton L. Mandel Conversation
FEATURED SPEAKER: Dava Newman (MIT Media Lab)
October 25, 2023
Boston, MA
The Legislative Path to Supreme Court Reform
Cohosted with the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Akhil Amar (Yale University); Charles Fried (Harvard University); Kimberly Atkins Stohr (The Boston Globe); Gabe Roth (Fix the Court); MODERATOR: Patti Saris (United States District Court, District of Massachusetts)
November 15, 2023
Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA
Member Reception at ICA Boston
FEATURED SPEAKER: Jill Medvedow (Institute of Contemporary Art)
December 1, 2023
House of the Academy, Cambridge, MA
Commission on Reimagining Our Economy Luncheon Discussion
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Ann Fudge (Young & Rubicam Brands); Cornell William Brooks (Harvard Kennedy School)
December 14, 2023
House of the Academy, Cambridge, MA
Winter Concert featuring The Balourdet Quartet
FEATURED SPEAKERS AND PERFORMERS: Angela Bae (Balourdet Quartet); Lynn W. Chang (Boston Conservatory at Berklee); Justin DeFilippis (Balourdet Quartet); Russell Houston (Balourdet Quartet); Benjamin Zannoni (Balourdet Quartet)
January 24, February 2, February 16, April 3, April 19, May 17, August 30, October 11, 2023
House of the Academy, Cambridge, MA
Local Fellows Luncheon
New York
September 21, 2022
New York, NY
An Evening with Mary Beard*
Cohosted with Cambridge in America
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Mary Beard (University of Cambridge); Simon Goldhill (University of Cambridge)
March 13, 2023
New York, NY
Injustice in America*
FEATURED SPEAKER: Sherrilyn Ifill (formerly, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund)
May 23, 2023
Whitney Museum of American Art
New York Reception to Welcome Newly Elected Members
FEATURED SPEAKER: Adam Weinberg (Whitney Museum of American Art)
July 20, 2023
International Peace Institute, New York
21st Century Challenges and Opportunities for Humanitarian Health Responses
Cohosted with the International Peace Institute
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Dirk Druet (McGill University); Fouad M. Fouad (American University of Beirut); David Miliband (International Rescue Committee); Jenna Russo (International Peace Institute); MODERATOR: Jennifer M. Welsh (McGill University); WELCOME: Adam Lupel (International Peace Institute); CLOSING: Paul H. Wise (Stanford University)
September 6, 2023
New York, NY
Why the Museum Matters*
FEATURED SPEAKER: Daniel Weiss (Johns Hopkins University)
October 18, 2023
New York, NY
Americans and Our Economy: A Conversation about the Human Stakes*
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Katherine J. Cramer (University of Wisconsin–Madison); Ann M. Fudge (Young & Rubicam Brands); Serene Jones (Union Theological Seminary); Nicholas B. Lemann (Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism)
Washington
June 5, 2023
Seattle, WA
Member Dinner*
FEATURED SPEAKER: Margaret O’Mara (University of Washington)
Wisconsin
April 26, 2023
Olin House, University of Wisconsin
Madison Member Reception
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Jennifer L. Mnookin (University of Wisconsin–Madison); David W. Oxtoby (American Academy of Arts and Sciences)
International
Mexico
September 12, 2023
El Colegio de México, Mexico City
A World in Humanitarian Crisis: Forced Mobility and Organized Crime in Latin America
Cohosted with El Colegio de México
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Sergio Aguayo (El Colegio de México); Ietza Bojórquez (El Colegio de la Frontera Norte); Tamara Taraciuk Broner (Inter-American Dialogue); Julia Carabias (National Autonomous University of Mexico); Emilio González (UNHCR); Miguel Ángel Valverde Loya (Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs); Silvia Giorguli Saucedo (El Colegio de México); Jaime Sepúlveda (University of California, San Francisco); Karine Tinat (El Colegio de México)
United Kingdom
November 6, 2023
Chatham House, London
Challenges to Delivering Humanitarian Health Care in Today’s Conflicts
Cohosted with Chatham House
FEATURED SPEAKERS: Larissa Fast (University of Manchester); Natalie Roberts (Médecins Sans Frontières UK); Ulana Suprun (Commission for Universal Health); MODERATOR: Patricia Lewis (Chatham House)
November 7, 2023
University of Cambridge