The Member Directory provides the public with the list of Members elected to the American Philosophical Society from 1743 to the current year and includes general information and short biographies. The section of the Member Directory that is restricted to elected Members provides more detailed information and is accessed through the Members-Only Portal.
Elected Members
The APS is an elected body of scholars from all different disciplines. Today the Society has approximately 1,000 elected Members, about 840 of whom are Resident Members (are citizens of or live and work in the United States) and about 160 of whom are International Members from more than two dozen countries. As of April, 2020, only 5,710 Members have been elected since 1743. Since 1900, more than 260 Members have received the Nobel Prize.
Early Members included George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Marshall. In the 19th century, John James Audubon, Robert Fulton, Charles Darwin, Thomas Edison, and Louis Pasteur were among those elected. Albert Einstein, Robert Frost, and George Marshall hint at the scientific, humanistic, and public accomplishments of 20th-century Members. The first woman was elected in 1789—the Russian Princess Dashkova, president of the Imperial Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg.
The photo above shows the diversity of the Society's Membership, with Michael Marletta (molecular biologist), Joyce Carol Oates (author), Stephen Lippard (chemist), Yve-Alain Bois (art historian), Martha Minow (legal scholar), and Elena Kagan (Justice of the US Supreme Court) all sitting in the front row waiting to be inducted into the Society.
Member Directory
Members-Only Portal
The Members-Only Portal provides a means of engagement for the elected Members of the Society. Members can update their own information in the Member Directory, find contact information for other members, register for upcoming Meetings, nominate candidates for Membership, and find documents, committee reports, and minutes of the Council and Business Meetings.
President
Linda Greenhouse is the Knight Distinguished Journalist in Residence and Joseph Goldstein Lecturer in Law at Yale Law School, a position she assumed in 2009 after 30 years covering the Supreme Court for The New York Times. She was elected a Member of the APS in 2001, elected a Vice President in 2012, and President on May 1, 2017. In 2005 she was awarded the APS's Henry Allen Moe Prize in the Humanities in recognition of her paper, “‘Because We Are Final’: Judicial Review Two Hundred Years after Marbury,” delivered as part of the symposium, “The Two Hundredth Anniversary of Marbury v. Madison,” at the Society’s 2003 April Meeting and published in the March 2004 Proceedings.
She is a graduate of Radcliffe College, Harvard University, and earned the degree of Master of Studies in Law from Yale Law School, which she attended on a Ford Foundation fellowship. Among numerous awards during a 40-year career in journalism were the Pulitzer Prize (1998); the Henry Friendly Medal from the American Law Institute, of which she is an honorary member; and the Carey McWilliams Award from the American Political Science Association for “a major journalistic contribution to our understanding of politics.”
APS Member News
Read about APS Members' latest awards and honors and remember recently passed Members.
Classes and Subdivisions
Class I: Mathematical and Physical Sciences
- 101: Astronomy
- 102: Chemistry and Chemical Biochemistry
- 103: Engineering
- 104: Mathematics
- 105: Physical Earth Sciences
- 106: Physics
- 107: Computer Science
Class II: Biological Sciences
- 201: Biochemistry, Pharmacology
- 202: Cellular and Developmental Biology
- 203: Integrative and Evolutionary Biology and Systematics (including Paleontology and Paleoanthropology)
- 204: Medicine, Surgery, Pathology
- 205: Ecology, Behavioral Biology, Animal Behavior and Psychology
- 206: Structural Biology and Biophysics
- 207: Genetics and Population Genetics
- 208: Neuroscience
- 209: Microbiology and Immunology
Class III: Social Sciences
- 301: Sociology and Demography
- 302: Economics
- 303: History since 1776
- 304: Jurisprudence and Political Science
- 305: Psychology
Class IV: Humanities
- 401: Archaeology
- 402: Criticism: Arts and Letters
- 403: Cultural Anthropology
- 404: History of the Arts, Literature, Religion, and Sciences
- 405: History and Philology, East and West, to 1776
- 406: Linguistics
- 407: Philosophy
Class V: Professions, Arts, and Affairs
- 501: Creative Artists
- 502: Physicians, Theologians, Lawyers, Jurists, Architects, and Members of Other Professions
- 503: Administrators, Bankers, and Opinion Leaders from the Public or Private Sectors
- 504: Scholars in the above fields
Newly Elected Members
Class 1: Mathematical and Physical Sciences
Ernest J. Moniz
Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems Emeritus, Special Advisor to the President, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; CEO, Energy Futures Initiative; Co-Chair and CEO, Nuclear Threat Initiative; Former U.S. Secretary of Energy
James M. Moran
Senior Scientist, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Donald H. Menzel Emeritus Professor of Astrophysics, Harvard University
Sidney Nagel
Stein-Freiler Distinguished Service Professor, Department of Physics, James Franck Institute, and Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago
Monica Olvera de la Cruz
Lawyer Taylor Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Professor of Chemistry, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, Director of the Center for Computation and Theory of Soft Materials; Deputy-Director, Center for Bio-Inspired Energy Science, Northwestern University
Eva Tardos
Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Computer Science, Cornell University
International:
Lia Addadi
Professor, Department of Structural Biology, President’s Advisor for Advancing Women in Science, Weizmann Institute of Science
Ewine van Dishoeck
Professor of Molecular Astrophysics, Leiden Observatory, Leiden University; President, International Astronomical Union
Class 2: Biological Sciences
Jeanne Altmann
Eugene Higgins Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Emerita, Princeton University
Scott Edwards
Alexander Agassiz Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Curator of Ornithology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University
David Ginsburg
James V. Neel Distinguished University Professor, Departments of Internal Medicine, Human Genetics, and Pediatrics, Life Sciences Institute, University of Michigan, Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Carl June
Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Director Center for Cellular Immunotherapies, Director, Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Perelman School of Medicine, Universtiy of Pennsylvania
Venki Ramakrishnan
Group Leader, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology; Fellow, Trinity College, Cambridge; President, The Royal Society, London
International:
John Skehel
Emeritus Research Scientist, The Francis Crick Institute; former Biological Secretary and Vice-President, The Royal Society; Director, MRC National Institute for Medical Research
Class 3: Social Sciences
Mahzarin R. Banaji
Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics, Department of Psychology, Senior Advisor to Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University; External Faculty, Santa Fe Institute
Joyce E. Chaplin
James Duncan Phillips Professor of Early American History, Harvard University
Alondra Nelson
Harold F. Linder Professor, School of Social Science, , Institute for Advanced Study; President, Social Science Research Council
James C. Scott
Sterling Professor of Political Science, Professor of Anthropology, Professor of Forest & Environmental Studies, Yale University
Alan Taylor
Thomas Jefferson Foundation Chair, Department of History, University of Virginia
Class 4: Humanities
Caroline Bruzelius
Anne Murnick Cogan Professor Emerita of Art and Art History, Duke University
Angela N. H. Creager
Thomas M. Siebel Professor in the History of Science, Chair, Department of History, Princeton University
Catherine Gallagher
Ida May and William J Eggers, Jr. Professor Emerita, University of California, Berkeley
David Tracy
Andrew Thomas Greeley and Grace McNichols Greeley Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Catholic Studies, rofessor Emeritus of Theology and the Philosophy of Religions, University of Chicago Divinity School and the John U. Nef Committee on Social Thought
David Wellbery
Director, Center for Interdisciplinary Research on German Literature and Culture, Leroy T. and Margaret Deffenbaugh Carlson University Professor, Germanic Studies, John U. Nef Committee on Social Thought, University of Chicago
International:
Maribel Fierro
Research Professor, Institute of Languages and Cultures of the Mediterranean (ILC), CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas)
Eva Schlotheuber
Professor for Medieval History, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf; President, German Historical Association
Class 5: The Arts, Professions, Leaders in Public and Private Affairs
Elizabeth Alexander
Essayist, Poet, President, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Marin Alsop
Music Director, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Chief Conductor, Vienna Radio Orchestra, Ravinia Festival; Director, Graduate Conducting Studies, Peabody Institute, John Hopkins University; Conductor of Honor, São Paulo Symphony
Louise Henry Bryson
Former Chair, Board of Trustees, Founder, Getty Conservation Council, J. Paul Getty Trust
Lonnie Bunch III
Secretary, Smithsonian Institution
Carla Hayden
Librarian of Congress
Goodwin Liu
Associate Justice, Supreme Court of California
David Oxtoby
President, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, President Emeritus, Pomona College
André Watts
Pianist; Jack I. and Dora B. Hamlin Endowed Chair in Music, Distinguished Professor of Music, Indiana University
International:
Robert Tony Watson
Former Professor and Director, Tyndall Center, University of East Anglia
Class 1: Mathematical and Physical Sciences
David L. Donoho
Professor of Statistics, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor in the Humanities and Sciences, Stanford University
Kerry Emanuel
Cecil & Ida Green Professor of Atmospheric Science, Co-Founder, Co-Director, The Lorenz Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Fernando Pereira
Vice President and Engineering Fellow, Google, Inc.
David A. Tirrell
Provost, Carl and Shirley Larson Provostial Chair, Ross McCollum - William H. Corcoran Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology
Xiaowei Zhuang
David B. Arnold Professor of Science, Director, Center for Advanced Imaging, Harvard University; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
International:
Fabiola Gianotti
Director-General, CERN
Adi Shamir
Paul and Marlene Borman Professorial Chair of Applied Mathematics, Department of Applied Mathematics, The Weizmann Institute of Science
Class 2: Biological Sciences
Catherine Dulac
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Higgins Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Lee and Ezpeleta Professor of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University
Laurie H. Glimcher
President, Chief Executive Officer, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Richard and Susan Smith Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Erin K. O'Shea
Investigator, President, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Paul C. Mangelsdorf Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University
Gary Ruvkun
Professor of Genetics, Harvard Medical School; Hans-Hermann Schoene Distinguished Investigator, Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital
Clifford J. Tabin
George Jacob and Jacqueline Hazel Leder Professor of Genetics, Chair, Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School; Adjunct Professor of Health Sciences & Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
International:
Kamaljit S. Bawa
Founder, President, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, India; Distinguished Professor of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Boston
Chris Stringer
Research Leader in Human Origins, Natural History Museum, London
Class 3: Social Sciences
Larry M. Bartels
Professor of Political Science, May Werthan Shayne Chair of Public Policy and Social Science, Vanderbilt University
Annette Gordon-Reed
Charles Warren Professor of American Legal History, Harvard Law School; Professor of History, Harvard University
Martin Jay
Sidney Hellman Ehrman Professor of History Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley
Roger B. Myerson
Professor of Economics, David L. Pearson Distinguished Service Professor of Global Conflict Studies, Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago
Philip Tetlock
Annenberg University Professor, Professor of Psychology, School of Arts and Sciences, and Professor of Management, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Class 4: Humanities
Kathy Eden
Chavkin Family Professor of English, Professor of Classics, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University
Brian Daniel Joseph
Distinguished University Professor, Kenneth E. Naylor Professor of Slavic Languages and Linguistics, Professor of Linguistics, Ohio State University
Jonathan Lear
John U. Nef Distinguished Service Professor, Committee on Social Thought and Department of Philosophy, University of Chicago
Naomi Oreskes
Professor of the History of Science, Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Science, Harvard University
Judith Jarvis Thomson
Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
International:
Karine Chemla
Directrice de recherche classe exceptionnelle, Centre National de Recherche Scientifique
Jean-Louis Ferrary
Directeur d’études Emeritus, École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris
Romila Thapar
Professor of History Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Class 5: The Arts, Professions, Leaders in Public and Private Affairs
S. James Anaya
Dean, University Distinguished Professor, University of Colorado Law School
William Drayton
Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ashoka: Innovators for the Public
Jennifer Higdon
Composer; Milton L. Rock Chair in Composition Studies, The Curtis Institute of Music
John Lithgow
Actor
Nancy Weiss Malkiel
Professor of History Emeritus, Princeton University
David M. Rubenstein
Co-Founder, Executive Chairman, The Carlyle Group
Patrick Spero
Librarian, Director, Library of the American Philosophical Society
Patricia Williams
James L. Dohr Professor of Law, Columbia University; Columnist, The Nation
International:
David Cannadine
President, British Academy; Dodge Professor of History, Princeton University; Visiting Professor of History, Oxford University
Class 1: Mathematical & Physical Sciences
Frances H. Arnold
Linus Pauling Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering and Biochemistry, California Institute of Technology
Eric J. Horvitz
Director, Technical Fellow, Microsoft Research Labs; Affiliate Associate Professor, Departments of Computer Science and Engineering, and of Biomedical and Health Informatics, University of Washington
Vijay Kumar
Nemirovsky Family Dean, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics, University of Pennsylvania
Sara Seager
Professor of Planetary Science, Professor of Physics, Professor of Aerospace Engineering, Class of 1941 Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Richard Taylor
Robert and Luisa Fernholz Professor, Institute for Advanced Study
International:
Jean Dalibard
Professor, Collège de France
Christopher Martin Dobson
Professor of Chemical and Structural Biology, Master of St. John’s College, University of Cambridge
Class 2: Biological Sciences
Helen M. Blau
Donald E. and Delia B. Baxter Professor, Director, Baxter Laboratory in Stem Cell Biology, Stanford University School of Medicine
Diane Edmund Griffin
University Distinguished Service Professor, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University
Hopi E. Hoekstra
Alexander Agassiz Professor of Zoology, Departments of Organismic & Evolutionary Biology and Molecular & Cellular Biology, Curator of Mammals, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University; Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Richard E. Lenski
John Hannah Distinguished Professor of Microbial Ecology, Michigan State University
Michael W. Young
Richard and Jeanne Fisher Professor and Head, Laboratory of Genetics, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Rockefeller University
International:
Rudolf K. Thauer
Director Emeritus, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology; Professor of Biology Emeritus, Philipps University Marburg
Robin A. Weiss
Professor Emeritus of Viral Oncology, University College London
Class 3: Social Sciences
Karen S. Cook
Ray Lyman Wilbur Professor of Sociology, Stanford University
Eric Foner
DeWitt Clinton Professor of History Emeritus, Columbia University
Margaret Levi
Sara Miller McCune Director, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Professor of Political Science, Stanford University
Reva Siegel
Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Professor, Yale Law School
Shelley Taylor
Distinguished Professor, Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles
Class 4: Humanities
William A. Graham
Murray A. Albertson Research Professor of Middle Eastern Studies, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and University Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, Harvard University
Philip Stuart Kitcher
John Dewey Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University
Paul W. Kroll
Professor of Chinese, University of Colorado, Boulder
Susan Neiman
Director, Einstein Forum
Thomas M. Scanlon
Alford Professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity Emeritus, Harvard University
International:
Jakob Lothe
Professor of English Literature, University of Oslo
Avishai Margalit
Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Class 5: The Arts, Professions, Leaders in Public and Private Affairs
Ronald J. Daniels
President, Johns Hopkins University
Paul Edward Farmer
Co-founder, Chief Strategist, Partners in Health; Kolokotrones University Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Professor of Medicine, Chief, Division of Global Health Equity, Brigham and Women’s Hospital; Special Adviser to the Secretary General on Community-based Medicine and Lessons from Haiti, United Nations
Kenneth C. Frazier
Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Merck
Frederick M. Lawrence
Secretary, Chief Executive Officer, The Phi Beta Kappa Society; Distinguished Lecturer in Law, Georgetown Law Center, Georgetown University
Sara Miller McCune
Founder, Executive Chair, SAGE Publishing
Janet Napolitano
President, University of California
Kara Walker
Artist, Kara Walker Studio; Tepper Chair in Visual Art, Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University
International:
Rosalie Silberman Abella
Justice, Supreme Court of Canada
Orhan Pamuk
Novelist
Talking About Things: Members' Stories
Talking About Things is a video series about elected Members of the American Philosophical Society. Members select an object from the APS collections of over 13 million items and then are interviewed about the object. The interview often leads to discussion of the Member’s life work and stories from their past and present. Why did they select this particular object? Does it connect to their field of specialty? How did they become interested in their field?
The aim of this series is to give viewers insight into who the APS Members are and, more generally, how a lifetime passion for learning and critical inquiry can develop and be sustained.
Michael Silverstein and Journals from the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Keith Thomson and On the Origin of Species
Judge David Tatel and Franklin's Copy of the Constitution