Nine faculty members elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences announced its 2009 fellows this week, and nine members of the University faculty are among them.

Elected to the academy this year are: Andrew Abbott, the Gustavus F. and Ann M. Swift Distinguished Service Professor in Sociology and the College; Spencer Janney Bloch, the R.M. Hutchins Distinguished Service Professor in Mathematics; Robert Fefferman, Dean of the Physical Sciences Division and the Max Mason Distinguished Service Professor in Mathematics; Craig Hogan, Professor in Astronomy & Astrophysics; Robert von Hallberg, the Helen A. Regenstein Professor in English Language & Literature and Comparative Literature; Norman Nie, Professor Emeritus in Political Science; Raghuram Rajan, the Eric J. Gleacher Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at Chicago Booth; Neil Shubin, the Robert R. Bensley Professor and Associate Dean of Organismal Biology & Anatomy; David Wellbery, the Leroy T. and Margaret Deffenbaugh Carlson University Professor in Germanic Studies and the College.

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences elected 212 new fellows and 19 new foreign honorary members this year. The 231 scholars, scientists, artists, and civic, corporate and philanthropic leaders come from 28 states and 11 countries. The 2009 fellows represent universities, corporations, museums, national laboratories, private research institutes, media outlets and foundations.

In the academy’s announcement, President of the Academy of Arts and Sciences Emilio Bizzi, said: “These remarkable men and women have made singular contributions to their fields, and to the world. By electing them as members, the academy honors them and their work, and they, in turn, honor us.”
Fellows and foreign honorary members are nominated and elected to the academy by current members. A broad-based membership, which is composed of scholars and practitioners from mathematics, physics, biological sciences, social sciences, humanities and the arts, public affairs and business, gives the academy a unique capacity to conduct a wide range of interdisciplinary studies and public policy research.

Founded in 1780 by John Adams, James Bowdoin, John Hancock and other scholar-patriots, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences has elected as its members the finest minds and most influential leaders from each generation. The academy undertakes studies of complex and emerging problems, with projects that focus on science, technology and global security, as well as social policy and the humanities, culture and education.

The new class of fellows will be inducted at a ceremony Saturday, Oct. 10, at the academy’s headquarters in Cambridge, Mass.

To read the entire list of 2009 fellows, please visit: http://www.amacad.org/news/new2009.aspx.

More coverage of the University’s 2009 fellows elected to the Academy of Arts and Sciences will be posted in the coming weeks on this website.