A statement from the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, approved April 2025.

Corruption can be ruinous, destroying nations, institutions, communities, individuals, the environment, and the very notion of public trust. Corruption self-reinforces, respects no law or border, and reproduces like disease. The Summer 2018 issue of Dædalus features fifteen essays exploring the nature of modern global corruption—and how to defeat it.

Clear and precise communication is more crucial than ever before to the health and security of every nation. Four academies have joined together with the American Academy to sign a document in support of language education.

Working with the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), the Academy convened college and university presidents and leaders of scholarly societies. Together, they developed and supported a unified defense of learning and higher education. More than 650 leaders signed the statement on behalf of their students, faculty, staff, and communities.

Authors Stephen B. Heintz and Pete Peterson, coming from different sides of the political aisle, agree that term limits for Supreme Court Justices is a way to depoliticize the process and strengthen faith in democratic institutions.

Among the 31 recommendations in the Academy's cross-partisan publication, Our Common Purpose, was a proposal to enlarge the House of Representatives to ensure better and more responsive representation for Americans across the country. The idea was explored in a "Vox, America Explained" video which featured the Academy's work.

The twenty-first-century information sciences will allow us to communicate information and compute at unprecedented speeds. By 2029, for example, we should be able to build computers, in quantity, that are a million times more powerful than the personal computers of today.

New Volume of Essays from the American Academy Examines the Teaching of Evidence-Based Decision Making

Business as usual won’t solve the existential challenges facing higher education. Gabriel Paquette discusses three models for reinventing higher ed: the laissez-faire, the pragmatic, and the utopian, citing the American Academy report on “The Future of Undergraduate Education, The Future of America” in this opinion piece.

While congressional leaders and policymakers explore the possible expansion of space-based military operations, a technical understanding of what is possible and at what cost remains unclear to many in the debate.

By Maggie Boyd, Associate Archivist at the Academy

More than 200 individuals with compelling achievements in academia, business, government, and public affairs were elected to the Academy in 2019.

News about Academy events and projects, including the Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences and the Global Nuclear Future initiative, as well as new research and publications.

Martha Nussbaum Will Receive Randel Award and Deliver Remarks at April Event

A new lithograph by the U.S. preeminent painter and sculptor Ellsworth Kelly now hangs in the atrium of the House of the Academy. In celebration of the Academy’s 225th anniversary, Kelly donated 25 signed prints of his “Sunflower II” from a limited edition of 60 lithographs. The remaining prints have been designated by Kelly to be used as gifts of appreciation to donors who make lead contributions to the Academy’s endowment and capital funds during the 225th anniversary period.

Danielle Allen appeared on MSNBC's Velshi to discuss expanding the House of Representatives.