Three Brown University scholars have been elected members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s most prestigious honor societies. The new members from Brown are Francis J. Doyle III, a professor of engineering and Brown’s provost; Prudence Carter, a professor of sociology; and Greg Hirth, a professor and chair of the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences.
They are among a class of 250 new members, who include leading thinkers in science, public affairs, business, arts and the humanities. Members are selected through a competitive process that recognizes individuals who have made preeminent contributions to their disciplines and to society.
Founded in 1780, the academy is one of the nation’s oldest learned societies and independent policy research centers. The new members join a distinguished group of individuals elected to the academy before them, including Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Mead and Martin Luther King Jr. This year’s new class of members features prominent artists and scholars including George Clooney, Tim Cook and Jhumpa Lahiri.
“We honor these artists, scholars, scientists and leaders in the public, nonprofit and private sectors for their accomplishments and for the curiosity, creativity and courage required to reach new heights,” said David Oxtoby, president of the academy. “We invite these exceptional individuals to join in the academy’s work to address serious challenges and advance the common good.”
Doyle, who became Brown’s 14th provost in 2023, is an accomplished chemical engineer and academic leader. Prior to his role at Brown, he served as dean of the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. As a scholar, Doyle applies systems engineering principles to the analysis of regulatory mechanisms in biological systems.
His work includes the design of drug-delivery devices for diabetes; modeling, analysis and control of gene regulatory networks underlying circadian rhythms; and computational analysis for developing diagnostics for post-traumatic stress disorder. Doyle has been recognized as a fellow of multiple professional organizations and is a member of both the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, a certificate of post-graduate studies from Cambridge University and a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the California Institute of Technology.
“I am humbled and excited by this unexpected honor, which aptly comes at a moment when my career has transitioned to a role that entails supporting academic activities across the wide breadth of fields of scholarship that the academy encompasses,” Doyle said. “I hope to learn from, and be inspired by, current and former members of this fellowship in the quest to expand knowledge and its impact.”
With the addition of Doyle, Carter and Hirth, a total of 47 current and former Brown faculty members have been elected to the academy. Others include University President Christina H. Paxson, Nobel Laureates Leon Cooper and Michael Kosterlitz, and National Medal of Science winner S. James Gates, Jr.
Brown Engineering’s Joan Wernig and E. Paul Sorensen Professor of Engineering Linda Abriola, L. Herbert Ballou University Professor of Engineering and Professor of Physics Arto Nurmikko, and Henry Merritt Wriston Professor of Neuroscience and Professor of Engineering John Donoghue are also members.
Induction ceremonies for new members will take place in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in September 2024.