The American Academy of Arts and Sciences announced the election of more than 200 new members for 2019. Three of the Academy's new members hail from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences:
Souleymane Bachir Diagne (French) in Literary Criticism (including Philology)
Michael Harris (Mathematics) in Mathematics, Applied Mathematics and Statistics
Kellie Jones (AHAR) in Visual Arts and Performing Arts – Criticism and Practice
Membership in the Academy honors the outstanding achievements of individuals in academia, the arts, business, government, and public affairs. According to David W. Oxtoby, President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, "With the election of these members, the Academy upholds the ideals of research and scholarship, creativity and imagination, intellectual exchange and civil discourse, and the relentless pursuit of knowledge in all its forms."
Other new members in this class include Elizabeth Alexander, Judith Butler, Anna Deavere Smith, Sherrilyn Ifill, Michelle Obama, and Sylvia Serfaty, as well as two additional Columbia faculty members: Kathleen McKeown (Computer Science) and Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic (Biomedical Engineering).
New members will be inducted in Cambridge, Massachusetts this coming October.