American Academy of Arts and Sciences
American Academy of Arts and Sciences logo
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| Motto | To cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honour, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people. |
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| Formation | May 4, 1780 |
| Type | Honorary society and center for policy research |
| Purpose | Honoring excellence and providing service to the nation and the world |
| Headquarters | Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. |
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Membership
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4,900 fellows and 600 foreign honorary members |
| Website | www |
Coordinates: 42°22′51″N 71°06′37″W / 42.380755°N 71.110256°W
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, frequently known as the American Academy, is one of the oldest and most prestigious honorary societies and a leading center for policy research in the United States. Election to the Academy is considered one of the nation's highest honors since its founding during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, and other scholar-patriots who contributed prominently to the establishment of the new nation, its government, and the United States Constitution.
Today the Academy is charged with a dual function: to elect to membership the finest minds and most influential leaders, drawn from science, scholarship, business, public affairs, and the arts, from each generation, and to conduct policy studies in response to the needs of society. Major Academy projects now have focused on higher education and research, humanities and cultural studies, scientific and technological advances, politics, population and the environment, and the welfare of children. Dædalus, the Academy's quarterly journal, is widely regarded as one of the world's leading intellectual journals.
The Academy is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The Academy was established by the Massachusetts legislature on May 4th, 1780. Its purpose, as described in its 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." The sixty-two incorporating fellows represented varying interests and high standing in the political, professional, and commercial sectors of the state. The first class of new members, chosen by the Academy in 1781, included Benjamin Franklin and George Washington as well as several foreign honorary members. The initial volume of Academy Memoirs appeared in 1785, and the Proceedings followed in 1846. In the 1950s the Academy launched its journal Daedalus, reflecting its commitment to a broader intellectual and socially-oriented program.
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