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Dr.

David W. Oxtoby

American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Chemist; Academic administrator; Educator
Area
Leadership, Policy, and Communications
Specialty
Educational and Academic Leadership
Elected
2012
David W. Oxtoby served as President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences from 2019 through June 2024. During his tenure as President, he focused on broadening the diversity of the Academy’s membership and helped move forward project and policy work in areas ranging from strengthening American democracy to climate change, nuclear arms control, undergraduate education, and the arts. From 2017 through 2018 he was a Visiting Scholar at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and co-founded the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration. He is President Emeritus of Pomona College, where he served as President from 2003–2017 and helped to advance environmental sustainability, increasing college access, cultivating creativity, and pursuing academic excellence in the context of an interdisciplinary liberal arts environment. Previously he served as Dean of the Division of Physical Sciences and the William Rainey Harper Distinguished Service Professor of Chemistry at the University of Chicago. Oxtoby has been the recipient of several fellowships, including from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Science Foundation. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the American Chemical Society, the American Philosophical Society, and the Council on Foreign Relations. He was an Overseer of Harvard University from 2008–2014 (Chair from 2013-2014) and currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of Smith College. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Dr. Oxtoby received honorary degrees from Occidental College (2005), Lingnan University in Hong Kong (2009), and Miami Dade College (2019). He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2012.
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Academy Involvement

Governance and Committees

Projects

Events

Event |

Higher Education Forum 2024

Featuring Sandy Baum, Gilda A. Barabino, Michael Bennett, David Campbell, Shirley M. Collado, Katherine J. Cramer, Michael M. Crow, Sean M. Decatur, David DeSwert, Alain-Philippe Durand, Susan M. Dynarski, Adam F. Falk, Kaye G. Husbands Fealing, L. Kealoha Fox, Joan T.A. Gabel, Howard Gillman, Jonathan Haidt, Sara Hebel , Fiona Hill, Xuedong Huang, Rishi Jaitly, John B. King, Jr., Bridget Terry Long, Jon Marcus, Steven W. McLaughlin, Michael S. McPherson, Angela Villela Olinto, David W. Oxtoby, Lynn Pasquerella, Avis Proctor, Francesca Purcell, L. Song Richardson, Elizabeth H. Simmons, Blanton Tolbert, Frances Ward-Johnson, Sisi Wei, Ben Wildavsky, and Teresa K. Woodruff
Aspen, CO
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Michigan Members’ Luncheon

Featuring Earl Lewis, Richard Rapson, Santa J. Ono, David W. Oxtoby, and Teresa K. Woodruff
Ann Arbor, MI
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New York Members' Luncheon

Featuring Thomas A. DiPrete, Mary Beth Hatten, Jennifer Homans, Carol Gluck, and David W. Oxtoby
New York
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Forum on the Future of Higher Education 2023

Featuring Mark Becker , Brandon Busteed , Nancy E. Cantor, Lynn W. Chang, Julio Frenk, Ann M. Fudge, Helene D. Gayle, Jason Gonzales , Hahrie C. Han, Sara Hebel , Mary Dana Hinton, Kaye G. Husbands Fealing, William Jarvis , Sonia K. Katyal, Earl Lewis, Goodwin Liu, Michael L. Lomax , Gary S. May, Jamie Merisotis, John C. Mitchell, Jennifer L. Mnookin, David W. Oxtoby, Bobby Pace , Laurie L. Patton, Jessica Pisano , Vincent E. Price, Emelia Probasco , Madeline Pumariega , Cybele Raver , Nabiha Syed , John Shattuck, Geoffrey Richard Stone, Ayanna Thompson, Ben Vinson, and Harry Williams
Aspen, CO
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Honoring Maxine Hong Kingston

Featuring Carol T. Christ, Maxine Hong Kingston, Viet Thanh Nguyen, and David W. Oxtoby
Berkeley, CA
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Honoring Robert D. Putnam

Featuring Nancy C. Andrews, Antonia Hernández, Robert David Putnam, and David W. Oxtoby
Cambridge, MA
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Reinventing Democracy: How Hometowns Are Strengthening America

Featuring Danielle Allen, Jason Artman, Sayu Bhojwani, Kristerfer Burnett, Jerren Chang, Louise Dubé, Archon Fung, Mark Gomez, Shamichael Hallman, Linda Harris, Chris Hughes, Joseph Kahne, Malka Ranjana Kopell, Tom Latkowski, Eric P. Liu, Martha McCoy, Anu Natarajan, Carmen Ortiz, David W. Oxtoby, Maria Perez, Pete Peterson, Rosemonde Pierre-Louis, Kelleen Leishman Potter, Alex Renirie, Max Resnik, Lynn Ross, Hollie Russon Gilman, Dave Smith, Palma Joy Strand, Judy Woodruff, and Richard Young
Online
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An Evening with Mary Beard

Featuring Winifred Mary Beard, Simon D. Goldhill, and David W. Oxtoby
Yale Club of New York City
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Forum on the Future of Higher Education 2022

Featuring David W. Oxtoby, Rachel Barr, Joanne Berger-Sweeney, Michelene T.H. Chi, José Luis Cruz Rivera, John J. DeGioia, Wendy Fischman , Wayne A. I. Frederick , Kimberly Griffin , Jonathan Scott Holloway, Lloyd Holmes, Alexandra Hrycak, Jodie Adams Kirshner, Nicholas B. Lemann, Susanna Loeb, Paula D. McClain, Maurie McInnis, Joel W. Meyerson, Ted Mitchell , Eduardo J. Padrón, John G. Palfrey, Seth D. Pollak, OiYan Poon, Barbara Snyder, Talia Stroud , Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco, David G. Victor, Natasha Warikoo, Ruth V. Watkins, Elke U. Weber, and David Kwabena Wilson
Aspen, CO
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Bridging Divides in America

Featuring Andy Barr, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Derek Kilmer, Farah Pandith, Laurie L. Patton, Eric P. Liu, and David W. Oxtoby
Online
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Night at the Museums

Featuring Scott Vernon Edwards, Jon McVey Erlandson, Matt Friedman, Douglas E. Soltis, Pamela S. Soltis, Victoria L. Sork, and David W. Oxtoby
Online
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Artists at Work

Featuring Oskar Eustis, Thelma Golden, David W. Oxtoby, and Laura Zabel
Online
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Honoring Margaret Atwood

Featuring Margaret Atwood, Gish Jen, Nancy C. Andrews, and David W. Oxtoby
Online
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Honoring William Labov

Featuring William David Labov, Penelope Dorothy Eckert, Wendell Pritchett, and David W. Oxtoby
Online
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Earning Trust in the Age of the Pandemic

Featuring David W. Oxtoby, Victor J. Dzau, Francis Sellers Collins, Evelynn M. Hammonds, Seth Mnookin, Monica Schoch-Spana, and Erica Palma Kimmerling
Online
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Gender, Work, and COVID-19

Featuring David W. Oxtoby, Nannerl Overholser Keohane, Frances McCall Rosenbluth, and Debora L. Spar
Online
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News

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