Can community colleges and employers create skills-based credentials of value?

This has been an extraordinary year, marked by a historic pandemic, bitter political strife, and unsettling civil unrest, and capped by a presidential election unlike any before. The new administration faces daunting challenges—uniting a deeply divided country, marshaling science and public health expertise to quell the coronavirus pandemic, improving relationships with international allies, striving for racial equity, addressing climate change, and making our economy work for all citizens. Members of the American Academy will play important roles in these efforts, both through public service and through the work of our organization. I believe we are as relevant and important now as at any other mo­ment over the past two hundred and forty years.

Language immersion is needed to help address global challenges, yet U.S. citizens are falling behind. Nicholas B. Dirks, member of the Academy's Commission on Language Learning, offers his commentary.

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 recent Academy event about artificial intelligence and the law explored how AI tools like ChatGPT and Bing Chat might impact the accessibility, reliability, and regulation of legal and other professional services. The event was part of the work of the Academy’s Making Justice Accessible project.

Harvard Law School professor and cochair of Academy project on Making Justice Accessible Martha Minow discusses forgiveness in the American legal system with NPR host Michel Martin.

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.

The United States is spending tens of billions of dollars annually – far more than all other countries combined – to acquire advanced military space capabilities. However, for technical and economic reasons, that investment is unlikely to yield the government’s stated military goals.

Announcing the seven Visiting Scholars at the American Academy for 2016-17.

In updates released this morning, the American Academy's Humanities Indicators report that visits to historic sites, museums, and art galleries are on the rise in recent years.

As I reflect on my first year as president of the Academy, I am struck by how our members came together in so many different ways to address such a broad range of challenges, including unprecedented threats to academic freedom, the research enterprise, and the rule of law. And while it was a year of great challenges, there were also moments of great hope. For me, top among those moments was the Induction of our 2025 class of new members here in Cambridge in October.

Select Prizes and Awards to Members

Henri was a highly respected business leader and entrepreneur, greatly admired for his energetic engagement in biotechnology, community, service, and philanthropy.

On February 4, 2015, Andrea Roth and Franklin Zimring participated in a conversation at the University of California, Berkeley, on police use of lethal force against civilians.

Roger Ferguson, cochair of the Academy's Commission on the Future of Undergraduate Education, highlights videos showcasing innovative programs that address the challenges facing higher education today.

The American Academy of Arts & Sciences presented the Scholar-Patriot Award to acclaimed cellist and humanist Yo-Yo Ma in recognition of his lifetime achievements as a musician, educator, and champion of multicultural understanding.