On December 12, 2016, at the Century Association in New York, the Academy hosted the Morton L. Mandel Public Lecture on “Communicating Science through Art” with Diane Ackerman and Alan Alda. This program served as the Academy’s 2048th Stated Meeting and included an introduction by Geneva Overholser.

The Academy recently launched a new informational resource: the National Inventory of Humanities Organizations (NIHO).

In a new release today, the Humanities Indicators reports on substantial declines in the number of bachelor’s degrees conferred in the field. NCA Director Trevor Parry-Giles responds.

On October 1, 2011, the American Academy inducted its 231st class of Fellows and Foreign Honorary Members at a ceremony held in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The ceremony included presentations by five new members: Frances Hamilton Arnold, David Conrad Page, Sir Adam Roberts, Annette Gordon-Reed, and William I. Miller.

Ruth Lehmann and Gertrud M. Schüpbach have been awarded the 2020 Francis Amory Prize in Reproductive Medicine and Reproductive Physiology by the Academy. The discoveries made by Lehmann, a cell biologist, and Schüpbach, a geneticist, have advanced their own fields and contributed to knowledge and progress in DNA repair, embryonic development, RNA regulation, stem cell research, and other areas.

In this Washington Post column, Danielle Allen identifies state ballot initiatives that can help Americans rebuild a civic culture of commitment to one another and our democracy.

Academy Publications

The Academy has announced the members elected in 2023. The American Academy of Arts & Sciences is both an honorary society that recognizes and celebrates the excellence of its members and an independent research center convening leaders from across disciplines, professions, and perspectives to address significant challenges.

The Academy announces the election of 260 new members in 2022, which continues a tradition of recognizing accomplishments and leadership in academia, the arts, industry, public policy, and research.

The Academy's first new members were elected in 1781 and today the Academy announced members elected in 2024. The newest members are being recognized and celebrated for their excellence, and invited to join the Academy in connecting across disciplines and divides to advance the common good.

A dinner discussion on DNA and Art: In Search of the Genome of Leonardo da Vinci, featuring Jesse H. Ausubel, director of the Program for the Human Environment at The Rockefeller University and introductory remarks from Kenneth Wallach (Central National Gottesman Inc.) who cochairs the New York Program Committee.

A robust system of publication exchanges existed among societies in the 18th and 19th centuries. From this the Academy retains a selection of publications, such as an illustrated volume of the "Flora Batava".

The Academy's first new members were elected in 1781 and today the Academy announced the members elected in 2025. The individuals elected were recognized for excellence in various fields and professions and are invited to join the Academy in connecting across disciplines and divides to advance the common good.

On October 25, 2011, the Academy convened a panel of global experts at Stanford University. Scott D. Sagan, Harald Müller, Noramly bin Muslim, Olli Heinonen, and Jayantha Dhanapala considered the global nuclear future in light of the accident at Fukushima.

Frank Wilczek discussed the modern concept of substance and the nature of the Higgs particle following an introduction given by Jerome Friedman.

Noteworthy

John Lithgow reflects on the mission of the Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences, which was asked to examine the state of the humanities and the social sciences in our country at this historical moment, to evaluate their importance, and to make recommendations for the future.

At an Academy event, participants considered the potential impact of Solar Radiation Management with regard to climate change and considered questions of governance. Given the relevance to climate and global affairs, the discussants included environmental and atmospheric scientists, political scientists, and policy experts.

Academy member James Fallows includes Our Common Purpose as one of three developments that shed light on how the parts of America that still work can be applied to the parts that need help most.

Research funding is not unlike food production; it is not the amount, but the distribution of research funds that matters.