In updates released this morning, the American Academy's Humanities Indicators report that visits to historic sites, museums, and art galleries are on the rise in recent years.

How do we counter implicit bias in its individual and systemic manifestations? This question is explored in the Winter 2024 issue of Dædalus by leading scholars, scientists, and policy­makers who examine the science behind implicit bias—the residue of stereotyped associations and social patterns that exists outside our conscious awareness but reinforces inequality in the world.

Alexander Graham Bell’s paper “Researches in Telephony” was presented at a Stated Meeting of the Academy on May 10, 1876. In it, he considers the “three varieties of currents”–intermittent, pulsatory, and undulatory–that produce telephonic effects, and he also describes one of his experiments.

On behalf of the Development and Communications Committee, I would like to extend my deep gratitude to all the Fellows, friends, and foundations who supported the Academy this year.

Public research universities contribute to overall economy, research, and infrastructure in support of students, families, and the nation

Miranda Restovic and Sarah DeBacher of the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities describes their organization’s efforts to bring rich, humanities-focused educational experiences to preschoolers, thereby expanding the traditional understanding of what a humanities organization does—and for whom.

Despite the many challenges to higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded by every field except the humanities increased through the end of the 2021 academic year.

Howard Mumford Jones was president of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences from 1944 to 1951. He was instrumental in transforming the Academy into a national organization dedicated to the interdisciplinary analysis of broad-scale intellectual issues.

The humanities are anomalous in their focus on academe as being “the one true career path” for students, Robert Townsend said, which is why he feels he has to defend the importance of career diversity.

Academy member James Fallows includes Our Common Purpose as one of three developments that shed light on how the parts of America that still work can be applied to the parts that need help most.

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.

Wendy Freedman gives the remarks for Class I – Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the 2010 Induction ceremony.

The nation’s public research universities serve approximately 3.8 million students each year and perform much of the country’s groundbreaking research.

This Annual Report comes at an important moment in the life of the Academy. After years of primarily virtual engagement, our members are again gathering in person with a renewed sense of energy, vitality, and hope. During the last year, we held major Academy events in a dozen U.S. cities, and this fall we visited international members in Mexico City and London. In September, we hosted a historic Induction weekend for the classes of 2022 and 2023, welcoming 366 new members and more than one thousand total guests—the largest single in-person event the Academy has ever hosted. And in October and November, we released the final reports of two major Academy commissions: the Commission on Accelerating Climate Action and the Commission on Reimagining Our Economy.

Mandel Family Support Now Exceeds $11 Million Overall

The Academy Archives preserves and shares the acceptance letters of members. Selected letters are shared in online galleries and include letters from George Washington, Mary Leakey, and Nelson Mandela.

Cultural institutions across the United States—regardless of type or size—are facing unprecedented uncertainty, which is challenging long-standing models for communicating the value of arts and culture, for supporting these institutions, and for collaborating across the sector. To help address this uncertainty, the Academy held three virtual roundtable discussions in the fall of 2025 that brought together leaders from the arts and culture sector to reflect on these challenges and begin to outline strategies to move forward. To encourage open and candid dialogue, the discussions were held under the Chatham House Rule, so neither participants nor their comments can be identified in any materials related to the roundtables.

David Victor, who cochaired the Academy's Commission on Climate Action, released a study of climate change coverage in "elite" and "heartland" news sources between 2011 to 2022 . His analysis of the disparity (far greater likelihood of coverage in the "elite" sources) explores the effect of coverage on developing an engaged and supportive public and highlights that "a politically durable climate policy" must be more attuned to national sentiments.