Joseph Kannarkat and Norm Augustine, cochair of Academy project on New Models for U.S. Science and Technology Policy, discuss the project’s final report and what the U.S. can learn from China to improve its competitiveness in technology development.

Rolena Adorno offers an abbreviated version of the remarks she made at the 130th Modern Language Association Annual Convention on January 10, 2015.

The Academy convened leaders from its Affiliates network for a candid, forward-looking discussion about how lessons learned from the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic might inform the future of higher education. The event provided an opportunity for the participants – university presidents and chancellors, provosts, deans, faculty, and other administrators from over forty American colleges and universities – to gather, share ideas, and make sense of a challenging year.

Building consensus across the higher education sector was the focus of the Academy’s annual convening of The Higher Education Forum in June 2024. The convening was an opportunity for leaders to discuss how to emerge from a year marked by new challenges, while colleges and universities were recovering from the impact of the pandemic.

Research funding is not unlike food production; it is not the amount, but the distribution of research funds that matters.

In today’s high-tech and hyperconnected world, threats from insiders go far beyond leakers and lone-wolf shooters. How can we better protect against the enemy within, no matter what it is that needs to be protected?

The importance of public-private partnership; the assault on science and scientists; the attacks on knowledge, ideas, education, and democracy; the history of the American West and the American military; and the power of stories to teach, build bridges, and bring about social change – the class speakers at the Induction Ceremony for members elected in 2020 and 2021 addressed major issues facing the world today, with calls to action and calls for change. The ceremony featured presentations from engineer Lisa T. Su; neurosurgeon, medical reporter, and writer Sanjay Gupta; scholar and writer on civil rights and critical race theory Kimberlé W. Crenshaw; historian Patricia Limerick; and labor union activist Mary Kay Henry. An edited version of their presentations follows.

Nicholas Lemann, member of the Academy's Commission on the Future of Undergraduate Education, discusses the bigger issue of college completion rates.

Sandy Baum and Michael McPherson, members of the Academy's Commission on the Future of Undergraduate Education, write that the recent college admissions scandal represents a small fraction of college admissions and should not distract from persistent inequalities in higher education access.

At an Academy event held in Seattle, Washington, author Annie Proulx described some surprising places her research has led: from accusations of plagiarism against Alfred, Lord Tennyson to obsessive lepidopterists and images of long-lost swamplands. Following her opening remarks, she joined Shawn Wong, professor of English, in conversation.

Now is the moment to think about the people, places, and practices of democracy, write Hollie Russon Gilman, Darshan Goux, and Elizabeth Youngling in this op-ed.

Dee Davis, president of the Center for Rural Strategies, writes about what democracy looks like in rural America - “a mess” - and how to fix it with ideas from the report he worked on as a member of the Academy's project on American democracy.

On May 7, 2019, John Palfrey spoke about the intersection between a growing commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and the tradition of free expression on school campuses. Martha Minow participated in a conversation with John Palfrey following his opening remarks.

Across the country, state and local referenda gave voters a chance to enact the recommendations in Our Common Purpose. Almost everywhere, they did just that, supporting ballot measures to expand ranked-choice voting, increase access to early voting, and improve transparency around election funding.

The Academy’s Francis Amory Prize recognizes major contributions to the field of reproductive biology and was first awarded in 1940. Over the years, the prize recipients have reflected the increasing complexity and remarkable scientific progress in the field of reproductive biology.

Select Prizes and Awards to Members