- American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) is an organization dedicated to scholarship and the advancement of learning. It serves as a nationwide honor society for the
United States .James Bowdoin ,John Adams , andJohn Hancock founded the Academy in Boston during theAmerican Revolution . Their objective, as stated in its charter, was to "cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honour, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people." They were joined byRobert Treat Paine and 58 local community leaders to charter the organization in1780 . Other prominent men soon joined, and early members includedBenjamin Franklin (whoseAmerican Philosophical Society inPhiladelphia provided a spur to the Boston leaders to create a more politically oriented society),George Washington ,Thomas Jefferson andAlexander Hamilton . The Academy has over 170Nobel Laureates on its membership roll.The modern academy is headquartered in
Cambridge, Massachusetts . It sponsors conferences, organizes research projects, and publishes a quarterly journal, "Dædalus". Today's Academy has 4,000 fellows and about 600 foreign honorary members. Throughout the academic year, members are invited to regularly scheduled talks and meetings in Cambridge and at regional centers headquartered at theUniversity of Chicago and theUniversity of California, Irvine .External links
* [http://www.amacad.org The American Academy website]
* [http://www.amacad.org/pdfs/alpha_list.pdf The Current Membership]Not to be confused with
*
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
* American Academy of Arts and Letters
*American Association for the Advancement of Science
* National Academy of Sciences
*National Academy of Design
*World Academy of Art and Science
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.