Tuition is the principal revenue source for many of these institutions; Teaching and research remain the two top expenditures.

In September, Fellows and guests gathered at the House of the Academy to dedicate the Leo L. Beranek Library, named in recognition of Beranek’s generous gift of $550,000 to the Academy’s endowment. The gift is the first in response to naming opportunities for rooms in the House, instituted as part of the Academy’s commitment to increase its resources to fully realize its mission in the years ahead.

American Academy of Arts & Sciences Commission on the Humanities & Social Sciences releases report, "The Heart of the Matter"

Select Prizes and Awards to Members

After 238 years, there are not that many “firsts” left for the American Academy of Arts and Sciences to achieve. Yet on November 29, 2018, the Academy found one, hosting its first jazz performance at its headquarters in Cambridge.

Noteworthy

In the latest publication from the Academy's Public Face of Science initiative, coauthors Rita Colwell and Gary Machlis offer insights and recommendations to increase the role of scientists in times of disaster that will result in better individual and institutional decisions.

How much does the public know about science and where does it get its information? Do scientists communicate effectively with the public about their work? What role do the media and our education system play in advancing Americans’ scientific literacy? Two recent Academy publications examine these questions.

At a program hosted by the Academy’s New Haven Program Committee, Linda Greenhouse (New York Times columnist and Senior Research Scholar in Law at Yale Law School) discussed the United States Supreme Court’s transformational year and the challenges to Roe v. Wade.

President Jimmy Carter and Republican former Senators Olympia Snowe (ME) and Alan Simpson (WY) joined a majority of Americans across the political spectrum to support a Constitutional Amendment - as proposed in the Academy's Our Common Purpose report - addressing the explosive rise in election spending and the civic distrust and division it generates. 

Authors from Diverse Perspectives Try to Define Universal Education Goals in New Academy Publication

Robert Ballard tells the story of his passionate career in ocean exploration and discusses the educational initiatives he has created to engage a new generation of scientists.

A decade has passed since the publication of The Heart of the Matter, the influential report on the value of the humanities by the Academy’s Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences. What has happened to the humanities over the past ten years, and what might we do to better support the humanities in the future?

The 2111th Stated Meeting featured remarks from Danielle Allen, a member of the Commission that authored The Heart of the Matter, who reflected on the humanities as a historical and contemporary practice in an age of digital superabundance. The meeting also included a conversation between Allen and arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown about the practical applications for the humanities, what works and what doesn’t for asserting their value, and their role in contemporary political debates and culture wars. Academy President David W. Oxtoby offered introductory remarks. An edited version of the presentations and discussion follows.

Prolific scholar and public intellectual Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has been named the recipient of the Academy’s Don M. Randel Award for Humanistic Studies, which recognizes remarkable scholars whose work shapes our inner lives and our understanding of the world around us.

Recent Dædalus Issues Explore the Future of Free Speech and the Global Quest for Educational Equity

On April 13, 2023, the Academy presented its Talcott Parsons Prize for distinguished and original contributions to the social sciences to Robert D. Putnam. First awarded in 1974, the Talcott Parsons Prize was established to honor the noted sociologist and former president of the Academy. Previous recipients of the prize include William David Labov (linguistics), Joan Wallach Scott (history), Daniel Kahneman (psychology), and William Julius Wilson (sociology).

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

A big boost to college completion would pay off for students and the economy, a new paper finds, but would substantially increase the federal deficit. Academy report cited in coverage.

An Academy working group has issued a new resource for repairing and strengthening civic culture in America. In a highly polarized political environment, the Academy’s new publication reminds us America is united by people who believe in its ideals and who balance their self-interest with the well-being of their community and country.