Five from Penn Elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Five faculty at the University of Pennsylvania have been elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, an honorary society and independent research center founded in 1780.

Those elected include Mark G. Allen, Alfred Fitler Moore Professor in Electrical and Systems Engineering, with secondary appointments in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics; and Duncan J. Watts, Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) and Stevens University Professor in Computer and Information Science.

They are among the 252 new members elected in 2026 to be recognized for their excellence, innovation, leadership and broad array of accomplishments in their fields.

“We celebrate the achievement of each new member and the collective breadth and depth of their excellence — this is a fitting commemoration of the nation’s 250th anniversary,” says Academy President Laurie Patton. “The founding of the nation and the Academy are rooted in the inextricable links between a vibrant democracy, the free pursuit of knowledge, and the expansion of the public good.”

Chartered in 1780, the Academy was established to recognize accomplished individuals and engage them in addressing the greatest challenges facing the young republic. The first members elected to the Academy include George Washington, who said — in his first annual message to Congress in 1790 — “Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness.” Another early recipient was Penn’s founder Benajmin Franklin, who was elected in 1781.

Read More at Penn Today

(Clockwise from top left) Mark G. Allen, Sara Cherry, John L. Jackson, Jr., Michael E. Mann and Duncan J. Watts. (Images: Courtesy of Penn Engineering; Penn Medicine; Eric Sucar; Julian Meehan; and Annenberg School for Communication)