Three MIT professors were inducted Oct. 7 into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as part of the 226th class of fellows.
The new MIT fellows are Timothy M. Swager, professor of chemistry; K. Daron Acemoglu, the Charles P. Kindleberger Professor in Applied Economics; and Joshua Angrist, professor of economics. They were all inducted into a class of 175 fellows and 20 foreign honorary members. The academy also installed Institute Professor Emilio Bizzi, a brain scientist, as its 44th president.
"The academy takes great pride in honoring the accomplishments of these outstanding and influential individuals," said Bizzi, who officiated the day's proceedings. "Throughout its history, fellows of the academy have been dedicated to advancing intellectual thought and constructive action in America and the world. We are confident that our newest group of fellows will help us fulfill that mission in significant ways."
The academy, located in Cambridge, was founded in 1780 and has elected more than 4,000 fellows since then, including Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill. This year's 211 inductees include former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, photographer Richard Avedon and former President Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic.
The academy's charter is "to cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity and happiness of a free, independent and virtuous people."
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on October 18, 2006 (download PDF).
