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April 19, 2023 | Cambridge, MA – This year’s election of new members to the American �����Ƶ of Arts and Sciences maintains a commitment to honoring excellence that began more than 240 years ago. In 1780, the �����Ƶ’s founders – including John Adams and John Hancock – envisioned an organization that would recognize accomplished individuals and engage them in addressing the greatest challenges facing the young nation. The first members elected to the �����Ƶ in 1781 included Benjamin Franklin and George Washington.

Today, the �����Ƶ continues to be both an honorary society, electing new members from the non-profit, private, and public sectors, and an independent policy organization with initiatives in the arts, democracy, education, global affairs, and science.

When announcing this year’s new members, �����Ƶ President David W. Oxtoby said, “With the election of these members, the �����Ƶ is honoring excellence, innovation, and leadership and recognizing a broad array of stellar accomplishments. We hope every new member celebrates this achievement and joins our work advancing the common good.”

The 270 members elected in 2023 are drawn from academia, the arts, industry, policy, research, and science, and include more than 40 International Honorary Members (IHM) from 23 countries. Among the members elected in 2023 are:

• Biochemist and geneticist Emmanuelle Charpentier (IHM), Max Planck Society

• Historian Marcia Chatelain, Georgetown University

• Museum director Cynthia Chavez Lamar, The Smithsonian Institution

• Engineer and university president Reginald DesRoches, Rice University

• Music & artistic director Gustavo Dudamel (IHM), Los Angeles Philharmonic

• Quantitative cell biologist Amy Gladfelter, Duke University

• Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, The Nature Conservancy

• Poet, essayist, and translator Ilya Kaminsky

• Author and financial journalist Michael Lewis

• Songwriter, actor, director, producer Lin-Manuel Miranda  

• Linguist Salikoko S. Mufwene, University of Chicago

• Social psychologist James W. Pennebaker, University of Texas at Austin

• Writer, director, producer Shonda Rhimes, Shondaland

• Higher education leader Felix V. Matos Rodriquez, The City University of New York

• Economist Hyun Song Shin (IHM), Bank for International Settlements

• Author Zadie Smith

• Quantum physicist Senthil Todadri, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Astrophysicist and cosmologist Risa Wechsler, Stanford University

• Actress and producer Michelle Yeoh (IHM)

• Political scientist Daniel Ziblatt, Harvard University

“In its earliest days, the �����Ƶ sought members who would help address issues and opportunities confronting a young nation,” said Nancy C. Andrews (Boston Children’s Hospital), Chair of the �����Ƶ’s Board of Directors. “We feel a similar urgency and have elected a class that brings diverse expertise to meet the pressing challenges and possibilities that America and the world face today.”

The new members join a distinguished group of individuals elected to the �����Ƶ before them, including Benjamin Franklin (elected 1781) and Alexander Hamilton (1791) in the eighteenth century; Ralph Waldo Emerson (1864), Maria Mitchell (1848), and Charles Darwin (1874) in the nineteenth; Albert Einstein (1924), Robert Frost (1931), Margaret Mead (1948), Milton Friedman (1959), Martin Luther King, Jr. (1966), Stephen Hawking (1984), and Condoleezza Rice (1997) in the twentieth; and, more recently, Bryan Stevenson (2014), M. Temple Grandin (2016), John Legend (2017), Viet Thanh Nguyen (2018), James Fallows (2019), Joan Baez (2020), Sanjay Gupta (2021), and Heather Cox Richardson (2022).

About: The �����Ƶ, founded in 1780, is both an honorary society that recognizes and celebrates the excellence of its members and an independent research center convening leaders from across disciplines, professions, and perspectives to address significant challenges.

Media Contact: Alison Franklin at afranklin@amacad.org