The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin,Kershaw, G. E. (2014). American Academy of arts and sciences. In M. Spencer (Ed.), The Bloomsbury encyclopedia of the American Enlightenment. London, UK: Bloomsbury. Andrew Oliver, and other Founding Fathers of the United States. It is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Membership in the academy is achieved through a nominating petition, review, and election process. The academy's quarterly journal, Dædalus, is published by the MIT Press on behalf of the academy, and has been open-access since January 2021. The academy also conducts multidisciplinary public policy research.

Laurie L. Patton has served as President of the Academy since January 2025.

History The Academy was established by the Massachusetts legislature on May 4, 1780, charted in order "to cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people." The sixty-two incorporating fellows represented varying interests and high standing in the political, professional, and commercial sectors of the state. The first class of new members, chosen by the Academy in 1781, included Benjamin Franklin and George Washington as well as several international honorary members. The initial volume of Academy Memoirs appeared in 1785, and the Proceedings followed in 1846. In the 1950s, the Academy launched its journal Daedalus, reflecting its commitment to a broader intellectual and socially-oriented program.

Since the second half of the twentieth century, independent research has become a central focus of the Academy. In the late 1950s, arms control emerged as one of its signature concerns. The Academy also served as the catalyst in establishing the National Humanities Center in North Carolina. In the late 1990s, the Academy developed a new strategic plan, focusing on four major areas: science, technology, and global security; social policy and education; humanities and culture; and education. In 2002, the Academy established a visiting scholars program in association with Harvard University. More than 75 academic institutions from across the country have become Affiliates of the Academy to support this program and other Academy initiatives.

The Academy has sponsored a number of awards and prizes, throughout its history and has offered opportunities for fellowships and visiting scholars at the Academy.

In July 2013, The Boston Globe exposed then president Leslie Berlowitz for falsifying her credentials, faking a doctorate, and consistently mistreating her staff. Berlowitz subsequently resigned.Embattled head of American Academy of Arts and Sciences resigns after questions about resume – Metro. The Boston Globe (July 26, 2013). Retrieved on August 12, 2013.Academy loses a tireless advocate of arts, sciences – Letters. The Boston Globe (July 30, 2013). Retrieved on August 12, 2013.

Projects The Humanities Indicators

A project of the Academy that equips researchers, policymakers, universities, foundations, museums, libraries, humanities councils, and other public institutions with statistical tools for answering basic questions about primary and secondary humanities education, undergraduate and graduate education in the humanities, the humanities workforce, levels and sources of program funding, public understanding and impact of the humanities, and other areas of concern in the humanities community.Humanities Indicators . It is modeled on the Science and Engineering Indicators, published biennially by the National Science Board as required by Congress.

Membership Founding members The following were charter members of the Academy:

Notable Members Ever since the founding of the Academy, its members have been nominated and elected by peers. Members of the Academy included not only scientists and scholars, but also writers and artists as well as representatives from the full range of professions and public life. Throughout the Academy's history, more than 10,000 fellows have been elected. Notable members include:

The Academy has also had multiple international honorary members, including:

Astronomer Maria Mitchell was the first woman elected to the Academy, in 1848.She is an Astronomer, "Maria Mitchell".

The current membership encompasses over 5,700 members based across the United States and around the world. Academy members include more than 250 Nobel laureates and more than 60 Pulitzer Prize winners.

Of the Academy's 14,343 members since 1780, 1,406 are or have been affiliated with Harvard University, 611 with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 433 with Yale University, 425 with the University of California, Berkeley, and 404 with Stanford University. The following table includes those institutions affiliated with 300 or more members.

InstitutionMembers (1780–2021)Harvard1,406MIT611Yale433Berkeley425Stanford404Chicago367Columbia344Princeton322

† Excludes members affiliated exclusively with associated national laboratories.

Classes and specialties As of 2023, membership is divided into five classes and thirty specialties.

Class I – Mathematical and physical sciences Section 1. Mathematics, applied mathematics, and statistics Section 2. Physics Section 3. Chemistry Section 4. Astronomy, astrophysics, and earth sciences Section 5. Engineering and technologies Section 6. Computer sciences

Class II – Biological sciences Section 1. Biochemistry, biophysics, and molecular biology Section 2. Cellular and developmental biology Section 3. Neurosciences Section 4. Evolution and ecology Section 5. Medical sciences

Class III – Social and behavioral sciences Section 1. Psychological sciences Section 2. Economics Section 3. Political science Section 4. Law Section 5. Archaeology and anthropology Section 6. Sociology, demography, and geography Section 7. Education

Class IV – Arts and humanities Section 1. Philosophy Section 2. History Section 3. Literature and language studies Section 4. Literature Section 5. Visual arts Section 6. Performing arts Section 7. Religious studies

Class V – Public affairs, business, and administration Section 1. Journalism, media, and communications Section 2. Business, corporate, and philanthropic leadership Section 3. Educational and academic leadership Section 4. Public affairs and public policy Section 5. Scientific, cultural, and nonprofit leadership

Presidents, 1780–present

1780–1790 James Bowdoin 1791–1814 John Adams 1814–1820 Edward Augustus Holyoke 1820–1829 John Quincy Adams 1829–1838 Nathaniel Bowditch 1838–1839 James Jackson, M.D.Bowditch, Nathaniel Ingersoll, Memoir of Nathaniel Bowditch, Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1840. Cf. p.138 1839–1846 John PickeringWhite, Daniel Appleton, "Eulogy on John Pickering, LL. D., President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences", eulogy delivered to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, October 28, 1846; published in Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, v.3 1846–1863 Jacob Bigelow 1863–1873 Asa Gray 1873–1880 Charles Francis Adams 1880–1892 Joseph Lovering 1892–1894 Josiah Parsons Cooke 1894–1903 Alexander Agassiz 1903–1908 William Watson Goodwin 1908–1915 John Trowbridge 1915–1917 Henry Pickering Walcott 1917–1919 Charles Pickering Bowditch 1919–1921 Theodore William Richards 1921–1924 George Foot Moore 1924–1927 Theodore Lyman 1927–1931 Edwin Bidwell Wilson 1931–1933 Jeremiah D. M. Ford 1933–1935 George Howard Parker 1935–1937 Roscoe Pound 1937–1939 Dugald C. Jackson 1939–1944 Harlow Shapley 1944–1951 Howard Mumford Jones 1951–1954 Edwin Herbert Land 1954–1957 John Ely Burchard 1957–1961 Kirtley Fletcher Mather 1961–1964 Hudson Hoagland 1964–1967 Paul A. Freund 1967–1971 Talcott Parsons 1971–1976 Harvey Brooks 1976–1979 Victor Frederick Weisskopf 1979–1982 Milton Katz 1982–1986 Herman Feshbach 1986–1989 Edward Hirsch Levi 1989–1994 Leo Beranek 1994–1997 Jaroslav Pelikan 1997–2000 Daniel C. Tosteson 2000–2001 James O. Freedman 2001–2006 Patricia Meyer Spacks 2006–2009 Emilio Bizzi 2010–2013 Leslie C. Berlowitz 2014–2018 Jonathan Fanton 2019–2024 David W. Oxtoby 2025–Present Laurie L. Patton

See also American Philosophical Society National Academy of Engineering National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) National Academy of Sciences List of American Academy of Arts and Sciences members

References

External links

Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1783-1957 (Vol. 1 – Vol. 24), on JSTOR (Open access) Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Vol.1 (1846) – Vol.57 (1922) at Biodiversity Heritage Library (Open access)