The World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS), founded in 1960, is an international non-governmental scientific organization and global network of more than 800 scientists, artists, and scholars in more than 90 countries.
It serves as a forum for scientists, artists, thinkers, political and social leaders to address global challenges from a transnational, transdisciplinary perspective independent of political boundaries and prevailing orthodoxies. Fellows are elected for their accomplishments in the sciences, arts and the humanities.
It has been granted special consultative status by the UN Economic and Social Council and consultative status by UNESCO. Originally established in Geneva, Switzerland in 1960, the academy was founded with the aim of creating an informal world association of the highest scientific and ethical norms and standards. In 2011 WAAS was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) public benefit charitable organization in the State of California. The Academy maintains offices in Napa, Bucharest, and Pondicherry, and has a special division for southeastern Europe.
History An early concept for the foundation of the academy, and a set of world scientific and youth scientist and science journalist associations, was proposed in an article in Time magazine on October 1, 1938, by philosopher Etienne Gilson in the 1940s, and echoed in the 1950s by scientists who were concerned about the potential for misuse of scientific discoveries.
In the immediate aftermath of World War II, numerous scientists and intellectuals, who had witnessed the potential of humankind to destroy itself, began to explore the idea of an international, non-governmental body that could address the major concerns of humanity. Conversations began between prominent individuals such as Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer and Joseph Rotblat, who had each played a role in the creation of the atomic bomb and were disturbed about the potential misuse of these new, powerful scientific discoveries. Einstein, in a foreword (in German) to the book "Science and the Future of Mankind," by former WAAS President Hugo Boyko in 1964, expresses a wish that "The discovery of the atomic chain reaction needs to bring about as little annihilation as the invention of matches."
The origins of the association can be traced back to a letter drafted by Leo Szilard which Einstein sent to Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 2, 1939, warning him that recent research on fission chain reactions utilizing uranium made it probable that large amounts of power could be produced by a chain reaction and that, by harnessing this power, the construction of "extremely powerful bombs" was conceivable. He also suggested that Germany may already be working to develop such a weapon.
The letter resulted in the establishment of the Manhattan Project in 1942 under the leadership of Oppenheimer and to the development of the weapons that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
These events were followed by the development of the first Soviet atomic bomb in 1949 and the first Hydrogen bombs by the US in 1952 — a step soon followed by the USSR. Concern grew as the Cold War turned into a nuclear arms race. In 1955 Einstein and Bertrand Russell joined with nine other scientists — four of whom later went on to found The World Academy of Art and Science — to issue the Russell–Einstein Manifesto, warning of the dire threat of global nuclear destruction.
The informal discussions taking place between these distinguished scientists and intellectuals evolved into a more serious commitment — toward the responsible and ethical advances of science. The First International Conference on Science and Human Welfare was held in Washington DC., and organized by two American scientists with experience in this field: Richard Montgomery Field of Princeton University, former chairman of an international committee that focused on the social values of science, and John A. Fleming, former President of the International Council of Scientific Unions, today known as the International Council for Science, founded in 1931.
At the conclusion of the conference, it was agreed that a World Academy would be formed, and a committee was elected to begin the first steps towards its formation. The International Preparatory Committee consisted of (from France) Pierre Chouard, George Laclavére and G. Le Lionnaise; (from the United Kingdom) Ritchie Calder, H. Munro Fox and Joseph Needham; and (from the United States) Robert Oppenheimer.
The Academy was officially founded on December 24, 1960.
Among the 42 charter members of WAAS were several individuals who had played significant roles in creating other major global organizations: Joseph Needham, a cofounder of UNESCO, Lord Boyd Orr, first Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and G. Brock Chisholm, first Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). Four individuals were included posthumously as charter members of WAAS, including Albert Einstein, who was called the "spiritual father of the idea" in Hugo Boyko's 1961 book "Science and the Future of Mankind". The other three posthumous charter members are Australian botanist Sir Ian Clunies Ross, former President of the International Council of Scientific Research, John Adam Fleming, and ecologist Homer L. Shantz.
Past fellows Knute Bjarne Buttedahl, educator and researcher, an expert on global education and international development Arthur C. Clarke, author of 2001: A Space Odyssey Sir John C. Eccles, Nobel laureate in medicine Buckminster Fuller, architect and systems theorist Hazel Henderson, environmental activist and futurist André Michel Lwoff, Nobel laureate in medicine Abraham Maslow, psychologist Yehudi Menuhin, violinist Margaret Mead, cultural anthropologist Alva Myrdal, Nobel laureate in economics Gunnar Myrdal, Nobel laureate in economics Philip Noel-Baker, Nobel peace laureate Linus Pauling, Nobel laureate in chemistry and peace Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, president of India (elected as honorary fellow) Jonas Salk, developer of the Salk polio vaccine Vikram Sarabhai, chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission Arne Tiselius, Nobel laureate in chemistry
Research programs WAAS conducts research, conferences and other activities in collaboration with a global network of partner organizations, including UN agencies and other international organizations, academies and research institutions, universities and civil society organizations.
The Academy has an on-going focus on issues related to peace, nuclear disarmament and global governance.
Global Challenges A major focus of WAAS is an examination of the root causes of the multidimensional challenges that confront humanity today. The academy and fellows search for policy frameworks that offer solutions and opportunities for the 21st century. A view commonly expressed by WAAS President Garry Jacobs is that if these challenges are seen from a global evolutionary perspective, it can help identify the characteristics, which they all share. Fellows of WAAS work to address crises that are global in scope and that have a chance of being resolved through cooperative global action. In numerous papers by leading intellectuals, they have called for a paradigm change in thinking that is synthetic and integrated.
The Global Challenges project commenced officially at an international conference in Geneva in 2013, in collaboration with the United Nations Office. It aimed to consider in-depth the multiple challenges before the international community with a view to identifying the elements necessary for fundamental paradigm change. The Geneva conference (UNOG), hosted notable speakers such as Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Rolf-Dieter Heuer, Emil Constantinescu, Peter Maurer, Herwig Schopper, Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker, and Anders Wijkman. The project ideas have been represented at more than a dozen conferences and have brought hundreds of diplomats, politicians, scientists and social leaders together, representing a wide range of organizations. Some of these include the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy, Club of Madrid, Club of Rome, European Leadership Network, European Movement International, Future World Foundation, Green Cross International, Library of Alexandria, Nizami Ganjavi International Centre, Partnership for Change, Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts, Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs and the World University Consortium. The meetings have led to the publication of more than 100 notable papers on a wide range of issues.
A collaboration between WAAS and Club of Rome resulted in an exploration of how humanity could work toward a new civilization initiative — one that recognizes the systemic interconnectedness of people, nations, sectors, activities, challenges, forces and consequences presiding over global development.
Global Leadership in the 21st Century In 2019 WAAS launched a project called Global Leadership in the 21st Century (GL21) in conjunction with the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) that sought to redefine the multilateral system and identify catalytic strategies to address pressing global challenges. The project consulted with CSOs, youth networks, IGOs, think tanks and educational institutions.
A five-day international conference In June 2020. organized by WAAS and UNOG hosted 20 partner organizations to examine the findings and recommendations of fIfteen working groups focused on specific challenges. A final conference at UNOG followed in December 2020 with more than 800 participants and 60 speakers from more than 100 countries. In total more than 70 organizations of the UN system, academia, civil society and 400 experts contributed to the program. Notable participants included Micheline Calmy-Rey, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, Yukio Takasu, Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger, Sandrine Dixson-Declève, Ismail Serageldin, Hazel Henderson, Remus Pricopie, Irina Bokova, Dušan Vujović, Emil Contantinescu, Michael Møller, Gabriela Cuevas Barron, Noel Curran, Kehkashan Basu, Jeffrey Sachs, Jane Fonda, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, María Fernanda Espinosa, Federico Mayor Zaragoza, Dorothy Tembo and Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker.
GL-21 proposed catalytic strategies to address a number of pressing challenges through promoting the active role of civil society and social movements. Other solutions proposed at the event included fostering a shift from competitive national security to an inclusive human security paradigm; developing an accessible global delivery system for higher education; restoring trust in the media via a global news media rating system; coordinating global research on COVID-19 and other areas related to security and sustainability; the integration of scientific research, policy-making and implementation; employment guarantee programs; direct central bank funding of the SDGs; accelerating the shift from private financial capital to sustainable investments; accelerating the shift to renewable energy; and a global platform for highlighting the views of humanity on pressing societal issues.
Abolition of Nuclear Weapons