On October 25, 2011, the Academy convened a panel of global experts at Stanford University. Scott D. Sagan, Harald Müller, Noramly bin Muslim, Olli Heinonen, and Jayantha Dhanapala considered the global nuclear future in light of the accident at Fukushima.

The Rumford Prize, which recognizes contributions to the fields of heat and light, broadly interpreted, was first awarded in 1839 and is one of the oldest scientific prizes in the United States. Previous prize recipients include Thomas Edison in 1895, Edwin Land in 1945, and Enrico Fermi in 1953.

The American Academy awarded the 2021 Rumford Prize to astrophysicist Charles L. Bennett for his contributions to the field of cosmology. The virtual award ceremony included remarks by Academy President David Oxtoby, an introduction from theoretical physicist Marc Kamionkowski, a reading of the Rumford Prize citation by astronaut and scientist Kathryn Sullivan, and a presentation from Charles Bennett. An edited version of the speakers’ remarks follows.

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.

On October 30, 2018, Kenneth Prewitt spoke about the 2020 Census at a gathering of Academy members and guests at the House of the Academy in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

"Early encounters with poverty and harsh conditions played a major role in fueling my research on child maltreatment. I have always preferred addressing complexity over simplicity, and this has led to a multilevel approach in my research."

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences was founded by visionaries who foresaw that the nascent republic would benefit from the expertise of learned citizens to guide its development, health, and integrity through whatever challenges may arise.

Today, the clarity of that vision has never been more evident. We find ourselves in a time of deepening divides across lines of politics, race, religion, income, and opportunity. The institutions we have long turned to for leadership and information are under fire, as trust in the media, government, commercial enterprise, and academia declines. Strong and responsive institutions and a healthy civil society can carry us through crises and are vitally important in their aftermath.

The Academy organized a workshop in Washington, D.C. that gathered investigators from the government, academic, and industry sectors to discuss novel approaches to understanding and overcoming the social and behavioral barriers to the adoption of new energy technologies.

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.

Reflections on the American Academy’s work on New Dilemmas in Ethics, Technology, and War and its engagement with international organizations

In a forum essay, the HULA team (Danielle Allen, Maggie Schein, Christopher Pupik Dean, and David Kidd) describes its work, which start in the education sector but are now being extended to public humanities projects.

In "The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good?" Michael J. Sandel argues that the divide between winners and losers has poisoned our politics and pulled us apart. The problem, he contends, is not only that we have failed to live up to the meritocratic ideals we profess, but that a meritocratic society is a flawed aspiration. It produces hubris among the successful and humiliation among those left behind. In the first virtual Stated Meeting in the history of the Academy, Michael J. Sandel joined T. J. Jackson Lears and Anna Deavere Smith in a conversation about his new book and the destructive consequences of linking socioeconomic status with personal worth.

Members Elected in 2024, by Class & Section

A list of all active Members, arranged by Class and Section, Affiliation, or Year of Election, is available on the Academy’s website at www.amacad.org/directory.

Members Elected in 2023

"Witnessing the death and destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina in my hometown of New Orleans a decade ago triggered an obligation to test the utility of all that I have learned in a long career as a public health scientist."

Over five decades, the Clean Air Act has become a venerable, living institution that has been highly successful in improving the environment around the country. Its success results from its durability and flexibility, two concepts that often seem to be in opposition yet may be essential to establishing successful climate and energy policy.

Academy projects in Science, Engineering, and Technology seek to strengthen the capacity of science, engineering, and technology to improve the common good. Leveraging the diverse expertise of its members and a wide network of external specialists, the Academy conducts in-depth studies to assess the implications of scientific and technological progress. These studies inform actionable policy recommendations for stakeholders across government, academia, the nonprofit sector, and industry.

This essay by Chris Mooney cogently distills off-the-record workshops for experts from the scientific community and representatives of the public to explore how scientists currently understand their obligation to the broader social and cultural contexts in which their work is received, and to examine ways to improve engagement between the scientific and public communities.

The 2011 Induction weekend included a symposium on American Institutions and a Civil Society, which featured two panel discussions: The American Military and American Democracy and The Constitution, the Practice of Democracy, and Unintended Consequences.