American Academy of Arts and Sciences Elects 213 National and International Scholars, Artists, Philanthropists, and Business Leaders

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 20, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Academy of Arts and Sciences today announced the election of 213 new members. They include some of the world's most accomplished scholars, scientists, writers, artists, as well as civic, business, and philanthropic leaders.

The list of the 236^th class of new members is located at www.amacad.org/members.

Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences is one of the country's oldest learned societies and independent policy research centers, convening leaders from the academic, business, and government sectors to respond to the challenges facing—and opportunities available to—the nation and the world. Members contribute to Academy publications and studies of science, engineering, and technology policy; global security and international affairs; the humanities, arts, and education; and American institutions and the public good.

Members of the 2016 class include winners of the Pulitzer Prize and the Wolf Prize; MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowships; the Fields Medal; and the Grammy Award and National Book Award.

"It is an honor to welcome this new class of exceptional women and men as part of our distinguished membership," said Don Randel, Chair of the Academy's Board of Directors. "Their election affords us an invaluable opportunity to bring their expertise and knowledge to bear on some of the most significant challenges of our day. We look forward to engaging these new members in the work of the Academy."

"In a tradition reaching back to the earliest days of our nation, the honor of election to the American Academy is also a call to service," said Academy President Jonathan F. Fanton. "Through our projects, publications, and events, the Academy provides members with opportunities to make common cause with one another. We invite these newly elected members to participate in this important and rewarding work—and to help produce the useful knowledge for which the Academy's 1780 charter calls."

Physical and biological scientists in the new class include: Jacqueline Hewitt, the astrophysicist who discovered Einstein rings; nuclear physicist Barbara Jacak; chemist Timothy Lodge; Jay Keasling, expert in synthetic biology and metabolic engineering; computer scientist Tom Mitchell; biophysicist Eva Nogales; mathematician Andrei Okounkov; Sarah (Sally) Otto, evolutionary and population biologist; and neuroscientist John Rubenstein, whose discovery of key regulatory genes contributes to the understanding of the cellular and molecular underpinning of diseases like autism and schizophrenia.

Social scientists in the new class include: Brandice Canes-Wrone, Vice Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs; Andrew Cherlin, social demographer and sociologist of the family unit; cognitive learning scientist Michelene Chi; New York University School of Law Dean Trevor Morrison; and economist Sendhil Mullainathan, co-founder of the MIT Poverty Action Lab.

In the humanities and the arts, new members include: orchestral conductor JoAnn Falletta; historian Sandra Greene; poet Yusef Komunyakaa; conceptual artist Glenn Ligon; American historian David Nirenberg; Jahan Ramazani, expert in postcolonial poetry; and jazz composer and musician Wayne Shorter.

Those elected in public affairs, business, and administration include: professor and autism spokesperson Temple Grandin; Walter Isaacson, CEO of the Aspen Institute and former managing editor, Time; and Monica Lozano, Chair of the Board, U.S. Hispanic Media, and publisher and CEO, La Opinión. Philanthropists and business leaders in the 2016 class include: Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation co-founder and philanthropist Edythe Broad; TEI Industries Chairman and CEO and Wilmer Eye Institute Chair Sanford Greenberg; and President of Ariel Investments Mellody Hobson.

The Academy elected 37 Foreign Honorary Members from 17 countries, including Botswana, China, Cuba, Israel, Russia, and South Africa. Included among these Foreign Honorary Members are: art historian Horst Bredekamp; Edwin Cameron, Justice on the Constitutional Court of South Africa; Heinz Holliger, oboist, composer, and conductor; Nancy Ip, Dean, School of Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Israeli mathematician and Hebrew University of Jerusalem President Emeritus Menachem Magidor; Festus Mogae, former President of Botswana; Irish political scientist and vice-chancellor of Oxford University Louise Richardson; novelist, critic, and poet Colm Tóibín; computer scientist Shimon Ullman; and medical researcher Karen Vousden, known for her discovery of the regulatory role of a target for anti-cancer agents.

The new class will be inducted at a ceremony on October 8, 2016, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences is one of the country's oldest learned societies and independent policy research centers, convening leaders from the academic, business, and government sectors to respond to the challenges facing the nation and the world. Current Academy research focuses on higher education, the humanities, and the arts; science and technology policy; global security and energy; and American institutions and the public good. The Academy's work is advanced by its elected members, who are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs from around the world.

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