Three Ohio State professors are among the 178 new fellows elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
“I am honored to welcome these outstanding and influential individuals to the nation’s oldest and most illustrious learned society,” said academy President Patricia Meyer Spacks in a statement. “These new members have made extraordinary contributions to their fields and disciplines through their commitment to the advancement of scholarly and creative work in every field and profession.”
Marilyn Brewer, Malcolm Chisholm and Brian Joseph will be inducted into the academy during a ceremony in October at the academy’s headquarters in Cambridge, Mass.
“I was both surprised and honored,” said Marilyn Brewer, professor of psychology at OSU. “This is one of the most esteemed awards in academia, and this was just all totally unexpected.”
Brewer is also an Ohio Eminent Scholar in social psychology.
“I look forward to being a continuing member and carrying out the goals of the academy,” Brewer said.
Other notable members of the academy include George Washington, Ben Franklin, Daniel Webster, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill.
“It’s not every day that you get to be a part of an academy of such a diverse, distinguished group of people,” said Malcolm Chisholm, professor of chemistry at OSU. “The membership is very broad. People like Woody Allen, Bill Gates, Robert Altman and Rick Kirwan – this is not just an academy of scientists.”
While Chisholm agrees that being recognized is an honor, he also said reading the constitution of the academy further encouraged him to be an active participant and member of the academy.
The international academy, founded in 1780, is comprised of the world’s foremost scientists, scholars, artists, business people and public leaders. Nomination to the academy is a privilege restricted to the fellowship. Among its fellows are more than 160 Nobel Prize laureates and 50 Pulitzer Prize winners.
Brian Joseph, professor of South Slavic languages at OSU, said he was pleased to know that the effort had been made to nominate him for such an award. He also said he will continue to do what helped him receive the nomination.
“I’ve always tried to be a good citizen in terms of helping both departments’ progress,” Joseph said.
Joseph has served at OSU for 25 years and has been involved with the department of Slavic languages for eight years.
