October 10, 2008

American Academy Inducts 228th Class of Scholars, Scientists, Artists, Civic, Corporate and Philanthropic Leaders

Six members of the newly elected class will address their colleagues at the induction ceremony: PepisCo Chairman and CEO Indra K. Nooyi; trailblazing mathematician and hedge fund leader James Simons; biochemist and Merck Research Laboratories President Peter S. Kim; Harvard economist Susan Athey; and historian and Emory University Provost Earl Lewis will speak. Soprano Dawn Upshaw will perform. During the program, the Academy will also present its Scholar-Patriot Award in honor of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who was elected a Fellow of the Academy in 2002.

Founded in 1780, the Academy honors excellence each year by electing to membership the finest minds and most influential leaders of the day.

"The induction ceremony is an opportunity to welcome new members and celebrate the extraordinary history of the organization, now in its third century of service to the nation," said Chief Executive Officer Leslie Berlowitz. "Throughout its history, Fellows of the Academy have been dedicated to advancing intellectual thought and constructive action in America and the world. We are confident that our newest group of Fellows will help us fulfill that mission in significant ways."

The Academy draws on its distinguished membership to address critical social and intellectual issues through studies, publications, meetings and symposia.

The 190 new Fellows and 22 new Foreign Honorary Members are leaders in scholarship, business, the arts and public affairs. They come from 20 states and 15 countries, and range in age from 37 to 86. The new members represent universities, corporations, museums, research institutes, media outlets and foundations.

Among this year's inductees are winner of the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine Linda Buck; computer company founders Michael Dell (Dell Inc.), and Charles M. Geschke and John E. Warnock (Adobe Systems, Inc.); former Secretary of State George P. Schultz; former Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sam Nunn; astronomer Adam Riess, who contributed to the discovery of dark energy in the universe; electrical engineer Henry Smith, the father of X-ray lithography; Darwin biographer Janet Browne; architect Elizabeth Diller; and physicist and arms control expert Sidney Drell.

Other new Fellows who will participate in the ceremony are: university head Richard Herman (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign); research center directors Piermaria Oddone (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory) and Bruce Stillman (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory); seismologist Paul G. Richards, who applies his work to monitoring underground nuclear test explosions; AIDS researcher Judith Lieberman; Larry V. Hedges, founder of the meta-analysis method of social research; Margaret Jane Radin, specialist in the jurisprudence of cyberspace; and tropical agriculture specialist Pedro A. Sanchez.

This year's new Foreign Honorary Members come from Europe, Asia, Canada and the Middle East, and include British climate change expert John H. Lawton; former Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge G. Castañeda; director of Germany's Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Nikos K. Logothetis; and Italian glass-blowing maestro Lino Tagliapietra.

A complete list of new members is available on the Academy's Web site at https://www.amacad.org/news/alpha2008.aspx

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. Current Academy research focuses on: science, technology and global security; social policy and American institutions; the humanities and culture; and education. With headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., the Academy's work is advanced by its 4,600 elected members, who are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business and public affairs from around the world.

Note to Journalists: This news release is being distributed by Purdue University on behalf of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences induction ceremony will take place at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 11, 2007, at Sanders Theatre in Cambridge. Those wishing to attend are asked to contact Paul Karoff at 617-576-5043 or pkaroff@amacad.org .

Contact: Paul Karoff, (617) 576-5043, pkaroff@amacad.org