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Drawing largely on original research using federal data sets and the Gallup-Purdue Index survey of college alumni, the new report from the Humanities Indicators finds that college graduates with degrees from fields with below-average earnings are quite similar to graduates from other fields with respect to their perceived well-being.

Danielle Allen featured on BYU Radio about what she learned cochairing the Academy's bipartisan Commission on democratic citizenship and how recommended reforms can help Americans increase trust in one another and their institutions.

A brief update on the Academy’s actions and activities during the COVID-19 outbreak, including adjustments that have been made to our operations to help ensure the safety of members and staff.

Temple Grandin discussed the education of students who have different kinds of minds, as well as her own upbringing and work experience as a woman with autism.

Policy Perspectives on Police Use of Lethal Force

On January 28, 2013, the Academy honored Robert J. Birgeneau, Chancellor Emeritus of the University of California, Berkeley, at a special symposium on the benefit of public investment in higher education. Chancellor Birgeneau, Mary Sue Coleman, and Henry E. Brady participated in a conversation on the future of America’s system of public higher education, focusing on the California model and beyond.

The announcement of new members was heralded far and wide as affiliated institutions, businesses, and nonprofit organizations shared the news. While the professional accolades were wonderful, some of the personal reflections from new members were especially meaningful.

While the world’s economy is increasingly global, fewer American students are studying how to speak a language other than English. That’s a backward slide that hurts the nation’s ability to compete economically and diminishes the overall quality of a typical American education. Citing Academy report on "America's Languages," the editorial board of the News & Observer makes the case for improving foreign language instruction.

Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy hosted a Civic Scientist Lecture on the Academy's recent report.

It’s time to start building online versions of the libraries, parks and other public spaces that make societies and democracies work, write Eli Pariser and Danielle Allen, cochair of the Academy’s Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship.

On May 18, 1921, a Special Meeting was held at the House of the Academy at 28 Newbury Street in honor of Professor Albert Einstein of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin, during his first visit to the United States...

Francis Amory Prize Symposium: Advances in Reproductive Biology and Medicine

On March 6, 2019, Douglas E. Soltis and Pamela S. Soltis spoke at the Academy about a project that harnesses algorithm development, computer power, and DNA sequencing to create a comprehensive visual Tree of Life. The program, which served as the 2079th Stated Meeting of the Academy, included a welcome from President David W. Oxtoby and an introduction from Scott Vernon Edwards.

Throughout the period of social distancing, the Academy has worked to stay connected with members and continue the tradition of convening experts from across disciplines and professions to discuss important issues. As much of the world moved temporarily online, the Academy has leveraged video conferencing technology to hold a series of member events.

At the National Press Club, members of the Academy's language commission met for a public discussion of their answers. Commission member Rubén Rumbaut, offered the core of the commission’s framing, “Ironically, despite the diversity of American languages, the United States has acquired the dubious designation of being a language graveyard...we have immigrants and children of immigrants not passing on their language skills.”

From the Archives

In the early 1800s, the Academy received reports of a sea serpent, described as 60 to 100 feet long, in what is now Maine’s Penobscot Bay. In 1810, upon hearing that the reports had been lost, minister and politician Alden Bradford, with the assistance of Lemuel Weeks, collected and presented to the Academy sworn statements of witnesses. In doing so, Bradford acknowledged, “Accounts of this sort, I am aware, should be received with caution.”