The Academy presented its Emerson-Thoreau Medal to Maxine Hong Kingston for her distinguished achievement in the field of literature. The award, named after Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, was first given to Robert Frost in 1958 and has since been presented to several notable authors, including T.S. Eliot, Hannah Arendt, Norman Mailer, Toni Morrison, and Margaret Atwood.

Across many dimensions, U.S.-China relations are under strain. Amid ongoing debates about tariffs, rare earth minerals, technology, and Taiwan, one challenge stands out: nuclear risk fueled by increasing nuclear competition and a lack of risk reduction mechanisms. China currently has an estimated six hundred nuclear warheads and that number is expected to reach one thousand by 2030. At the same time, global nuclear risks are rising as the arms control regime weakens, with countries withdrawing from treaties and the last remaining U.S.-Russia treaty set to expire in February 2026. Adding to the tension, in October 2025, President Donald Trump ordered the resumption of nuclear weapons testing prior to a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jingping. Without an arms control agreement or risk reduction measures between the United States and China, experts warn of a potential arms race and the risk that overreaction or crisis escalation could lead to nuclear conflict.

On October 24, 2024, the Academy’s San Diego Committee hosted a program on “Health and Our Oceans,” which featured atmospheric chemist and Academy member Kimberly A. Prather. Professor Prather discussed newly identified critical connections between rising pollution levels in coastal oceans and rivers and their far-reaching impacts on air quality and human health. She also described a recent study on local air and water quality issues in southern San Diego. The program included introductory remarks from Susan Taylor, Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology, Chemistry & Biochemistry at UC San Diego School of Medicine, and Margaret S. Leinen, Director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Vice Chancellor for Marine Sciences, and Dean of the School of Marine Sciences at UC San Diego. An edited version of Professor Prather’s presentation follows.

On January 25, 2013,Thomas Levy described “cyber-archaeology” and the important role it plays in helping to promote excellence in the humanities and social sciences.

Scott D. Sagan, Joseph H. Felter, and Paul H. Wise discussed “A Collective Moral Awakening: Ethical Choices in War and Peace,” which is, in part, the subject of the Winter 2017 issue of Dædalus.

The Academy (founded in 1780) is looking ahead to its 250th anniversary as an opportunity for researching, writing, reflecting, and reckoning. There are two new initiatives: a book by distinguished historian Jacqueline Jones and a section of the website providing an overview of members, milestones, and work.

On October 7, 2017, the American Academy inducted its 237th class of Members at a ceremony held in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The ceremony included presentations by five new Members: Ursula Burns, James P. Allison, Heather K. Gerken, Jane Mayer, and Gerald Chan.

The Spring 2022 issue of Dædalus on “AI & Society,” guest edited by Academy member James Manyika, explores the many facets of AI: its technology, its potential futures, its effects on labor and the economy, its relationship with inequalities, its role in law and governance, its challenges to national security, and what it says about us as humans. What follows are a few additional remarks and insight from the volume’s guest editor on the collection.

In 2015, the American Musicological Society gave the Noah Greenberg Award to musicologist Jessie Ann Owens and the vocal ensemble Blue Heron, directed by Scott Metcalfe, for their project to produce the world premiere recording of Cipriano de Rore’s landmark I madrigali a cinque voci (Venice, 1542). On May 3, 2018, Owens spoke at the Academy about Cipriano’s music; following her presentation, Blue Heron performed a selection of madrigals drawn from his 1542 publication.

2106th Stated Meeting | April 20, 2022 | Virtual Event
Jonathan F. Fanton Lecture

American Academy of Arts and Sciences Sponsors International Conference to Examine Security, Safety, and Nonproliferation Issues

The Academy's Commission on Reimagining Our Economy (CORE) is rethinking the values, policies, narratives, and metrics that shape the nation’s political economy. Rather than focus on how the economy is doing, the Commission seeks to direct a focus onto how Americans are doing. As part of this work, the Academy hosted a conversation with U.S. Representative Jim Himes, Chair of the House Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth and U.S. Representative Bryan Steil, the Ranking Member of the Committee.

Select Prizes and Awards to Members

In today’s world—characterized by great-power competition and ongoing crises in Europe, East Asia, and the Middle East—missile defense, previously a Cold War concern, has resurfaced as a prominent issue. State and non-state actors are relying on missile capabilities to achieve their military objectives. This article explores how missile strikes and missile threats are shaping new and ongoing global tensions.

The Academy’s new strategic framework presents four animating principles and seven strategies that are designed to ensure that the Academy continues to produce high-quality, interdisciplinary work that addresses urgent societal challenges. In 2025, the Academy’s programmatic work laid the groundwork for new projects and initiatives that will implement this framework and built on ongoing efforts to increase impact and raise the visibility of the institution with external audiences. These audiences include policymakers at the federal, state, and local level; leaders in philanthropy, higher education, nonprofit organizations, and business; scholars and students; advocacy groups; professional groups and practitioners; and the public.

On October 11, 2025, the Academy inducted more than two hundred newly elected members during its annual Induction Ceremony. The program included brief remarks from five new members, each representing one of the Academy’s membership classes. Their talks addressed topics such as the transformative power of science, building trust in expertise in the age of biology, leading for breakthroughs, creating books that act as mirrors rather than windows, and the evolving impact of Title IX. The class speakers were Gregory H. Robinson (Class I: Mathematical and Physical Sciences), Ashish K. Jha (Class II: Biological Sciences), Brian Uzzi (Class III: Social and Behavioral Sciences), Jacqueline Woodson (Class IV: Humanities and Arts), and Christine Brennan (Class V: Leadership, Policy, and Communications). Edited versions of their remarks follow.

The first Stated Meeting in the 220-year history of the Academy to be held outside the United States took place at the residence of the US Ambassador to France on June 6, 2000.

On February 6, 2018, Annette Gordon-Reed and Peter S. Onuf participated in a discussion on Jefferson, race, and democracy, drawing from their recent book, “Most Blessed of the Patriarchs”: Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination.