As the photos and articles in this Bulletin convey, the Academy continues to deliver on its important mission of celebrating excellence and advancing the common good. We are well positioned to do so in light of the accomplishments of David Oxtoby, who served more than five years as Academy President and stepped down from the role in June. We are indebted to David for his tireless work in developing a robust range of projects and deepening relationships with our members. We are poised for continued strength and impact with the appointment of Laurie Patton, President of Middlebury College, as the Academy’s next President. A poet, humanist, and expert in South Asian culture and religion, Laurie brings a deep well of experience as a thought leader on democracy and pluralism, and as a seasoned executive at multiple institutions. We look forward to her arrival in January.
Meanwhile, the work of the Academy continues apace. Each year, we celebrate excellence by electing a diverse group of new members who bring wide-ranging expertise and remarkable accomplishments. The 250 members elected in April include some of the foremost artists, innovators, scientists, business leaders, and humanists in our nation and the world. They hail from 29 states, 22 countries, and over 135 institutions, and we look forward to honoring them at Induction Weekend in September.
We also celebrate excellence by awarding prizes that acknowledge outstanding contributions to science, the humanities, the social sciences, and public policy, and a commitment to intellectual inquiry and leadership. This year, we presented the Francis Amory Prize, which recognizes significant scientific advances in reproductive biology, to Academy member Haifan Lin (Yale School of Medicine; Yale Stem Cell Center) for his contributions to stem cell research. We also presented the Don M. Randel Award for Humanistic Studies, which recognizes outstanding humanistic scholarship, to Academy member Kwame Anthony Appiah (New York University), one of the most prolific and influential thinkers of our time. Insightful remarks by both honorees at their award ceremonies appear in the pages that follow.
In February, we published the Dædalus volume, “Understanding Implicit Bias: Insights & Innovations,” which I guest edited with Camara Phyllis Jones (King’s College London), and this spring we hosted a virtual event, “Understanding Implicit Bias and How to Combat It,” which featured a presentation by Camara and my conversation with authors Jennifer Eberhardt (Stanford University) and Frank Dobbin (Harvard University), attended by over 230 people. These projects underscore the Academy’s commitment to elevating the use of evidence and knowledge to inform an issue of public importance. Scientific inquiry has advanced our understanding of implicit bias in recent decades and has also illuminated the limitations of certain cognitive measures and commonplace interventions like implicit bias training. This Bulletin includes a feature about the virtual event, which sheds light on effective strategies to mitigate the adverse effects of bias throughout our society.
As detailed in the pages that follow, the Academy’s core values and principles deeply inform many other projects—from the Commission on Accelerating Climate Action to Making Justice Accessible—and recent work including a meeting on Climate and Security and a Dædalus issue on “Advances & Challenges in International Higher Education.” Everything we do relies on the expertise of members from across the arts and sciences. Thank you for your invaluable contributions to exploring new ideas, addressing issues of importance to the nation and the world, and advancing the Academy’s mission.
Goodwin Liu