Deceased Members

Members Elected in 2021, by Class & Section

At the 860th Meeting of the Academy held June 14, 1893 in the Physiological Lecture Room of the Harvard Medical School in Boston, physician and Member Harold C. Ernst, using diagrams, lantern slides, and live samples, explained the methods of investigation...

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is launching a multi-year Commission on the Arts with distinguished cochairs, more than $1 million of support from foundations and individuals, and a commitment to exploring the role of the arts in American life.

Weekend events include panel discussions on the Constitution (with retired Associate Supreme Court Justice David Souter) and the American Military (with Maj. Gen. Gregg Martin, Commandant, U.S. Army War College)

This was a year of reemergence and celebration for the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Our building reopened for staff and events. We held a joyous Induction Weekend in September, making up for two years of cancellations due to the pandemic. And we finished a very successful capital campaign through the hard work of President David Oxtoby, campaign cochairs Louise Bryson and David Rubenstein, and Chief Advancement Officer Ginger Saariaho, exceeding our $100 million target. We are deeply grateful to them and to the members and friends who gave generously to support our work.

In my previous message, I discussed how – despite the challenges of the pandemic – our community of members has remained active and engaged in the life of the Academy. During the past year, our virtual events reached more audiences in more places than ever before. Our project work continued unabated, including the release of Our Common Purpose: Reinventing American Democracy for the 21st Century and the development of new major projects on climate change and inequality. And despite great uncertainty, our members came together to produce a record-breaking fundraising year.

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.

A list of recent publications.

In my first months as president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, I have been thinking a lot about the future–particularly “How can the Academy’s mission and members strengthen democracy?”

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...

The opening program of the 2023 Induction weekend included a reflection from actor and author John Lithgow, who encouraged the new members to engage with the Academy. He talked about his experience as a cochair of the Academy’s 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. The program also featured a conversation between David M. Rubenstein, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of The Carlyle Group, and Sheila Johnson, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Salamander Collection, that illuminated aspects of Johnson’s childhood, her success in a range of business ventures, and her lifelong involvement in the arts. An edited version of their conversation follows.

Anti-intellectualism is on the rise, fueled in part by attacks on institutions of higher education. As a result, the public has begun to question the role these institutions play in society and whether they still provide the value they once did. For decades, colleges and universities have claimed to advance the public good, pointing to their research contributions as evidence of their value and their continued need for public support. Their internal processes, however, do not always reflect their commitments.

Academy report includes a roadmap for storing spent nuclear fuel

2110th Stated Meeting | January 18, 2023 | Virtual Event | Morton L. Mandel Conversation