‘Thinkers and Doers’ of Their Generation

Catherine L. Albanese, J. F. Rowny Professor Emerita in Comparative Religions at UC Santa Barbara, and Anthony Zee, UCSB professor of physics, were among 164 artists, scientists, scholars, authors, and institutional leaders who were inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences at a ceremony in Cambridge on Saturday, Oct. 11.

“The Induction Ceremony recognizes the achievements of today’s most accomplished individuals,” said Academy President Jonathan Fanton. “The distinguished women and men who were inducted this weekend have engaged in innovative research, examined every aspect of our society, and continue to pursue solutions to the most pressing challenges of the day.  They are all leaders of the respective fields and the Academy offers them an opportunity to work together to advance the common good.”

Founded in 1780, the American Academy is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious learned societies, and an independent research center that draws from its members’ expertise to conduct studies in science and technology policy, global security, the humanities and culture, social policy, and education.

Members of the 2014 class include winners of the Nobel Prize; the Wolf Prize; the Pulitzer Prize; National Medal of the Arts; MacArthur, Guggenheim, and Fulbright Fellowships; and Grammy, Emmy, Oscar, and Tony Awards. 

In addition to the induction ceremony, events over the weekend included a presentation by UCSB alumnus Robert Ballard (’65), founder and president of the Ocean Exploration Trust and professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island. Also a new trustee elected to the board of The UC Santa Barbara Foundation for the 2014-15 academic year, Ballard gave a talk titled “Ocean Exploration — Past, Present, and Future.”

An alphabetical list of the new Academy members is available at https://www.amacad.org/multimedia/pdfs/alphalist2014.pdf.  The new class listed by discipline can be found at https://www.amacad.org/multimedia/pdfs/classlist2014.pdf.

Since its founding by John Adams, James Bowdoin, John Hancock, and other scholar-patriots, the American Academy has elected leading “thinkers and doers” from each generation. The current membership includes more than 300 Nobel laureates, some 100 Pulitzer Prize winners, and many of the world’s most celebrated artists and performers.