The AAAS 2026 New Members: Harvard Leads in Elections

Recently, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences announced its newly elected members in 2026. A total of 252 individuals from academia, the arts, industry, journalism, philanthropy, policy, and research were elected in recognition of their outstanding contributions to their respective fields.

The newly elected members are distributed across five classes: Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Biological Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Humanities and Arts, and Leadership, Policy, and Communications. These are further divided into 31 sections, with an additional 2 members classified as Interdisciplinary.

Among the five classes, Humanities and Arts has the largest number of newly elected members, with 56, followed by Social and Behavioral Sciences with 55, and Biological Sciences with 50. At the section level, each section has between 6 and 10 newly elected members. The sections with the highest number of new members (10 each) are Evolution and Ecology under Biological Sciences, Anthropology and Archaeology under Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Scientific, Cultural, and Nonprofit Leadership under Leadership, Policy, and Communications.

Among the elected members, 177 are affiliated with 83 universities, accounting for as much as 70.2%, indicating the dominant role of higher education institutions in this election. Harvard University has the highest number of elected members, with 8. It is followed by Columbia University, Princeton University, University of California, Berkeley, and Yale University, each with 7 elected members. The University of California, Irvine, the University of Cambridge, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Wisconsin–Madison each have 5 or more elected members.

In addition, 6 universities have 4 elected members each, 8 universities have 3 each, 12 universities have 2 each, and 48 universities have 1 each.

Among the 83 universities, in addition to those in the United States, scholars from universities in 10 other countries—including the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Israel, Australia, and China—were also elected. The United Kingdom has the largest number of elected members among these countries, with the University of Cambridge alone contributing 5 members.

Meanwhile, the sections of elected members often reflects the academic strengths of their institutions. Taking Harvard University as an example, its elected members span sections such as Religious Studies；Astronomy, Astrophysics, and Earth Sciences; Medical Sciences; Political Science; Education…… highlighting Harvard’s strengths in these areas.

About the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences honors excellence and convenes leaders from every field of human endeavor to examine new ideas, address issues of importance to the nation and the world, and work together “to cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people.”

Academy members include those who discover and advance knowledge and those who apply knowledge to the problems of society. More than 14,500 members have been elected since 1780.