In my first months as president of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, I have been thinking a lot about the future–particularly “How can the Academy’s mission and members strengthen democracy?”
Every piece featured in this issue of the Bulletin speaks to that question: whether it is Holden Thorp, Sean Decatur, and Naomi Oreskes debating the true source of the public’s trust and mistrust in science; Jhumpa Lahiri commenting on the role of writers in portraying the clash of values that is part of life in any open democratic society; or Charles Gammie reflecting on the meeting between reporters and the many physicists who produced the first image of a black hole.
I believe, as our founders also did, that the beginning of any democracy is in the will to gather. That is what they did in 1780, one of the most difficult years of the Revolutionary War. This is what we did during our 2024 Induction weekend, which included a conversation between Grant Hill and David Rubenstein, each an exemplar of vision, conviction, and determination. As you will read in the feature about this event, their conversation reveals what it takes to develop a group of disparate individuals from different backgrounds into a team that wins Olympic gold.
Other pieces in this Bulletin are about when the will to gather risks both trust and mistrust, highlights value differences that are not easily mended, and produces misunderstandings that can and will occur in open dialogues.
Also like our founders, I believe that the continuity of democracy lies not only in gathering, but in the disposition to deliberate well. In this issue, Helene Muller-Landau asks about what flaw our scientific deliberations will have when viewed through the lens of scientists a century from now. Legal scholar Daniel Ho reminds us that our most challenging problems are ones that do not fit neatly into disciplinary boxes, hence the difficulty of deliberating about them honestly. Neurobiologist André Fenton features the moment when his fellow scientists declared publicly and definitively that he had gotten it wrong and needed to change course.
These stories also show that thought leaders can be of service. Philanthropist Cecilia Conrad tells us to follow, as she did, the example of her father. Once given the opportunity to work in a less-segregated society, he proceeded to push doors open for others.
These are also the directions I would like to take the Academy with its breadth, its depth, and its roots in democracy itself. And not just conceptual directions. I also am thinking about actual directions and how we might deepen our engagement in places where we have not frequently visited, and where we might listen to leaders who have shown that it is possible to come together and build, even in the midst of real differences.
Together, we can work toward an Academy and an America that we all recognize and honor.
Yours cordially,
Laurie L. Patton