American Academy of Arts and Sciences

For more than 245 years, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences has been honoring excellence and providing service to the nation and the world. Through independent, nonpartisan study, its ranks of distinguished “scholar-patriots” have brought the arts and sciences into constructive interplay with the leaders of both the public and private sectors. The academy was founded during the American Revolution by John Adams, James Bowdoin, John Hancock, and other leaders who contributed prominently to the establishment of the new nation, its government, and its Constitution. Its purpose was to provide a forum for a select group of scholars, members of the learned professions, and government and business leaders to work together on behalf of the democratic interests of the republic.

Year	Faculty name	Related stories
2026	Anna Tsing and Terrie Williams	Anna Tsing and Terrie Williams named to American Academy of Arts & Sciences
2025	Donald L. Brenneis	Anthropologist Donald L. Brenneis elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2024	Patricia Zavella, Lise Getoor, and Karen Tei Yamashita	Three UC Santa Cruz faculty members elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2023	Beth Shapiro	Biologist Beth Shapiro elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2022	Sandra Chung	Linguist Sandra Chung elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2021	Angela Davis, James Estes, and Barbara Rogoff	Three UCSC professors elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2020	Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz	Astronomer Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2019	Natalie Batalha	Astronomer Natalie Batalha elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2018	Marc Mangel	Mathematical biologist Marc Mangel elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2015	Gail Hershatter	UC Santa Cruz history professor elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2012	Peter Young	Physicist Peter Young elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2011	Thomas Banks, James Clifford, and James Zachos	UCSC professors elected to AAAS
2010	Michael Dine, Gary Glatzmaier, Susan Strome, and John Thompson	Four UCSC professors elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2008	Thorne Lay	Seismologist Thorne Lay elected to American Academy of Arts & Sciences
2006	David Haussler	Three UCSC professors elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2002	Douglas Lin and Claire Max	Two UC Santa Cruz astronomers elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2001	Stanford Woosley	Stanford Woosley elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
1999	Harry Noller
1994	Joseph Miller	UCSC appoints Joseph Miller as Vice Provost for Silicon Valley Initiatives (mentions membership)
1992	Elliot Aronson	UCSC Professor Emeritus Elliot Aronson receives lifetime achievement award from the Association for Psychological Science (mentions membership)
1989	Sandra Faber	Astronomer Sandra Faber honored in White House ceremony (mentions membership)
Former faculty members
2005	M.R.C. Greenwood	Greenwood and Soulé elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2003	Geoffrey Pullum	Linguistics professor elected to American Academy of Arts & Science
1999	Marcia McNutt
1994	Steven Feld
1985	Frederic Jameson
In memoriam
1974	Frank Drake	Pioneering radio astronomer Frank Drake dies at 92
2006	Harry Berger, Harold Widom	Three UCSC professors elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2005	Michael Soulé	Michael Soulé, father of conservation biology, dies at 84
1991	Hayden White	Influential historian Hayden White dies at 89
1974	Robert Kraft	Robert P. Kraft, eminent astronomer and former director of UC Observatories, dies at age 87
1973	Harry Beevers	Eminent plant physiologist dies at 80
1970	George Herbig
1969	Robert Edgar	In Memoriam: Robert S. Edgar (1930–2016)
1968	Donald Osterbrock	Donald Osterbrock, eminent astronomer and former director of Lick Observatory, dies at age 82
1966	Tibor Scitovsky
1965	Robert Sinsheimer	Pioneering biologist Robert L. Sinsheimer dies at age 97
1961	Richard Musgrave	Richard Musgrave, renowned pioneer of public finance, dies at 96
1959	Joseph Bunnett	In Memoriam: Joseph Bunnett
1954	Albert Whitford	Albert Whitford, eminent astronomer and former director of Lick Observatory, dies at 96