Three Columbia faculty members were inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the United States’ most prestigious honorary societies, the academy announced on Wednesday.
Since 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences has honored excellence and convened leaders from across disciplines and divides to examine new ideas, address issues of importance, and work together “to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people.”
The Academy’s founders included John Adams and John Hancock. The first members elected to the Academy in 1781 included Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. More recent inductees include Madeleine K. Albright, John Legend, and Anna Deavere Smith.
“These new members’ accomplishments speak volumes about the human capacity for discovery, creativity, leadership, and persistence. They are a stellar testament to the power of knowledge to broaden our horizons and deepen our understanding,” said Academy President Laurie L. Patton. “We invite every new member to celebrate their achievement and join the Academy in our work to promote the common good.”
Columbia’s 2025 inductees are:
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Hashim M. Al-Hashimi, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics. Al-Hashimi and his trainees discovered many of the ubiquitous motional modes underlying the biological activities of nucleic acids, with important implications for drug discovery and for understanding the mechanisms that cause genome instability and cancer.
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Howard W. French, Professor of Journalism. French is a career foreign correspondent and global affairs writer and the author of five books, including three works of non-fiction, a work of documentary photography and a book from Norton Liveright about Africa and the birth of modernity.
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Michael I. Weinstein, Professor of Applied Mathematics and Professor of Mathematics. Weinstein's research interests are in the areas of Partial Differential Equations, Applied Analysis, Dynamical Systems and their role in the study of Waves and Multiscale Phenomena in classical and quantum systems.
