A protracted debate within the Academy over Darwin’s Origin of Species began with a paper on Japanese flora presented by Asa Gray in 1858, leading to an exchange between Louis Agassiz and William Barton Rogers...

Governance & Committees, 2022–2023

Members of the Catalyst Collaborative@MIT performed a staged reading of Chantal Bilodeau’s play SILA. The reading was followed by a panel discussion with Naomi Oreskes, Robert L. Jaffe, and playwright Chantal Bilodeau about the competing interests shaping the future of our planet.

Financial Statements

Select Prizes and Awards to Members

Limiting the effects of climate change will require a substantial transformation of the energy infrastructure. The Winter 2013 issue of Dædalus explores an equally important but less appreciated requirement for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions: the societal transition that must accompany these technological changes.

Select Prizes and Awards to Members

Select Prizes and Awards to Members

Looking Back at Law's Century, recently published by Cornell University Press, describes the complex interaction of democracy, capitalism, and legal change in the twentieth century. "The last hundred years – what we might in retrospect characterize as 'law's century' – took us from the Progessive Era's optimism about law and social engineering to current concerns about our hyper-legalistic society, from Wilsonian idealism to the worldwide spread of democracy, the rule of law, and the idea of human rights," according to the volume's editors, Austin Sarat, Bryant Garth, and American Academy Fellow Robert A. Kagan.

In news stories and political commentary, we hear daily about measures of public opinion. But why, exactly, does public opinion matter? How is it shaped, and to what extent does it influence public policy? These questions are explored in the Fall 2012 issue of Dædalus. Guest-edited by Lee Epstein, professor of law and political science at the University of Southern California, the volume features eight essays by political scientists, legal scholars, and public policy experts.

Climate change, soil erosion, human rights, Indigenous peoples, and “fixing” our democracy — the class speakers at the 2019 Induction Ceremony addressed major issues facing the world today, with calls to action and calls for change. Following a reading from the letters of John and Abigail Adams by humanitarian Jane Olson and attorney Ronald Olson, newly elected members spoke passionately about their life’s work. The ceremony featured presentations from paleoclimatologists Ellen Mosley-Thompson and Lonnie G. Thompson; microbiologist Jo Handelsman; former United Nations diplomat Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein; historian Margaret Jacobs; and lawyer and advocate Sherrilyn Ifill. An edited version of their presentations follows.
2083rd Stated Meeting | October 12, 2019 | Cambridge, MA

Three forces will fundamentally shape America’s energy future: climate change, national security, and global competition. A more effective national energy policy could better respond to these challenges by encouraging the adoption of new technologies and more realistic pricing models, according to contributors to the Spring 2012 issue of Dædalus, Journal of the American Academy.

The Academy typically holds events around the country and the world that bring members and others in their communities together. Although the COVID-19 pandemic suspended in-person events, the Academy continued to explore topics of national and global concern through a series of virtual activities. Academy President David W. Oxtoby provided opening remarks and moderated most of the virtual meetings and events.

Noteworthy section from the Winter 2016 issue of The Bulletin.

Africa is at the center of the global water predicament and climatic upheaval. The Fall 2021 issue of Dædalus, “Water Security in Africa in the Age of Global Climate Change,” guest-edited by Allen Isaacman, Muchaparara Musemwa, and Harry Verhoeven, features fourteen essays that explore policy debates and conflicts over water use as well as the efforts to mitigate these tensions.

William H. Gates, Sr., Frank Thomson Leighton, Carolyn R. Bertozzi, and Michael Wood Speak at Induction Ceremony Sherrill Milnes Performs

The crafters of the Constitution expected the size of the House to grow as the U.S. population increased. Citing the American Academy report on “The Case for Expanding the House of Representatives,” Kevin Kosar calls for Capitol Hill to consider the proposition.