November 2026

Meetings of the American Philosophical Society are held each April and November for elected Members, their families, and distinguished guests. Most sessions will be available to watch via web streaming and links will be shared closer to the event. This program is a draft and is subject to change. 

Thursday, November 19, 2026 

10:00 a.m.
Philosophical Hall
New Member Orientation

1:00 p.m.
Benjamin Franklin Hall
Opening Remarks

Induction of Members attending their first Meeting*

Jefferson's Wolf
Christa Breault Dirksheide
Brockman Foundation Jefferson Scholars Foundation Professor of History, University of Virginia
Nicholas Guyatt
Professor of North American History, University of Cambridge
Moderated by Brent Staples
The New York Times editorial board

The Foundational Role of Botanical Collections to Biodiversity Knowledge on our Rapidly Changing Planet: Insights From the Harvard University Herbaria
Jeannine Cavender-Bares
Director, Harvard University Herbaria
Professor of Organismal and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University

4:30 p.m.
Philosophical Hall
Stated Meeting of the Society's Council

6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Cocktail Reception

* New Members are inducted at the beginning of each Meeting session

Friday, November 20 

7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
Benjamin Franklin Hall
Breakfast

9:00 a.m. 
Benjamin Franklin Hall 

Report on the State of the Society
Patrick Spero
CEO, American Philosophical Society 

The Future of Indian Country
Matthew L. M. Fletcher 
Professor of American Culture and the Hary Burns Hutchins Collegiate Professor of Law, University of Michigan
Lance G. Morgan
President and CEO, Ho-Chunk, Inc. 
Angela Riley
Carole Goldberg Endowed Chair of Native American Law, UCLA School of Law 

Advanced Physics Applied to Investment Theory 
J.P. Bouchaud 
Co-Director of the CFM-Polytechnique Chair of Econophysics and Complex Systems at Ecole Polytechnique 

The War for America: How the Revolution Was Fought
Rick Atkinson
Author and Historian

Presentation of Society Prizes and Awards

Benjamin Franklin Medal
Carla Hayden 
Senior Fellow, Mellon Foundation
14th Librarian of Congress

Jacques Barzun Prize
Francesca Rochberg
Professor Emerita of Assyriology and Catherine and William L. Magistretti Distinguished Professor Emerita of Near Eastern Studies, University of California, Berkeley 

Patrick Suppes Prize
Edward Chang
Margaret Liu Collins and Edward B. Collins Distinguished Professor in Neurological Surgery, UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences 

Benjamin Franklin Medal
Justice Sonia Sotomayor 
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States

Luncheon 

The American Experiment at 250: Democracy, Knowledge, and Civic Responsibility 
Conversations with leaders in law and politics, to be announced

Thomas Jefferson Prize
William Christie
Conductor and founder of Les Arts Florissants

Concert
Featuring William Christie and Les Arts Florissants

4:30 p.m.
Philosophical Hall
Members' Business Meeting

6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Benjamin Franklin Hall
Cocktails and Light Supper

Saturday, November 21 

AI, Biosecurity, and Bioweaponry
David Relman
Thomas C. and Joan M. Merigan Professor in Medicine, Professor of Microbiology & Immunology, and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University

Can Humans Live Forever?
Venki Ramakrishnan 
Group Leader, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology

What is Youth?
Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte 
Founding Scientist and Senior Vice President, Altos Labs

Learned Academies in the 21st Century
Leaders of Phi Beta Kappa, American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and American Philosophical Society