The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an honorary society that recognizes achievement in the natural sciences, social sciences, arts, and humanities, has elected Hoover senior fellows William Damon and Shanto Iyengar to their class of 2014 for their work as “champion[s] of scholarship, civil dialogue, and useful knowledge.” Founded in 1780, it is one of the nation’s oldest learned societies and independent policy research centers.
In addition to his tenure as a Hoover senior fellow, Damon, who specializes in life-span human development and character educations, is also the director of the Stanford Center on Adolescence and a professor at Stanford’s School of Education. He was elected as a Social Sciences member in Social and Developmental Psychology and Education. “I feel thrilled and humbled by my election to the Academy,” said Damon. “For over two hundred years now, the Academy has stood as a beacon of excellence and integrity in American scholarship and civic discourse. To me, this is the finest kind of honor, because it comes from an association for which I have the highest regard and offers me chances to interact with people I have greatly admired.”
Iyengar is the Harry and Norman Chandler Chair in Communication, a professor of political science, and director of the Political Communication Laboratory at Stanford University. He was elected as a Social Sciences member in Political Science, International Relations, and Public Policy. “It is a great honor to be in such good company,” wrote Iyengar from his sabbatical in Belgium. “I'm especially pleased that interdisciplinary work – my work intersects political science and communications – is deemed worthy of recognition.”
Damon and Iyengar join the ranks of other American Academy of Arts and Sciences members whose include more than 250 Nobel laureates, more than sixty Pulitzer Prize winners, and distinguished leaders in business, academia, and global security.
