On Wednesday, April 12, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences elected 11 Stanford professors out of 228 new members to its ranks. According to Stanford News, the Academy is “one of the country’s oldest learned societies and independent policy research centers, convening leaders from the academic, business and government sectors to respond to the challenges facing the nation and the world.”
The new class of members includes “some of the world’s most accomplished scholars, scientists, writers, artists, as well as civic, business and philanthropic leaders,” according to the Academy’s press release.
The 11 Stanford faculty members are Andrea Goldsmith, professor of electrical engineering; Roland Greene, professor of English and comparative literature; Anna Grzymala-Busse, professor of political science; Maryam Mirzakhani, professor of mathematics; John Mitchell, professor of computer science; William Newsome, professor of neurobiology; Sean Reardon, the Professor in Poverty and Inequality in Education; John Rickford, professor of linguistics; Ilya Segal, professor of economics; Zhi-Xun Shen, the Paul Pigott Professor in Physical Sciences and George Triantis, professor of law and business.
The new members engage in a diverse variety of research, ranging from quantum matter to early modern literature. The Stanford scientists honored by the Academy include Professor Mirzakhani, who in 2014 was the first woman to ever win the Fields Medal — known as the Nobel Prize of mathematics — for her “path-breaking work on the geometry of Teichmüller spaces and hyperbolic Riemann surfaces.” Professor Mitchell, who also serves as Stanford’s vice provost for teaching and learning, focuses on improving cybersecurity and privacy, while Professor Shen researches quantum matter. Some of Shen’s current research interests include unconventional superconductors, X-ray techniques and novel light sources, and laser and microwave spectroscopy and imaging.
In the social sciences and humanities, Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute Grzymala-Busse researches political parties, state development and transformation, informal political institutions, religion and post-communist politics. Her most recent book, “Nations Under God,” examines the moral authority and political power of churches. Another professor honored by the Academy, Professor Greene, studies early modern literature from England, Latin Europe and the transatlantic world, as well as poetry ranging from the Renaissance to modern day.
The Academy was founded in 1780 and produces research, lectures, programming and meetings worldwide to provide nonpartisan insights to government and the private sector. Its publications include “Dædalus” and “The Bulletin,” as well as a variety of other work partially drawn from its 4,900 domestic and 600 foreign honorary members.
The 11 Stanford faculty members will be inducted along with their fellow new members on Oct. 7, 2017 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Contact Sarah Wishingrad at [email protected].