Laurie L. Patton, the President of Middlebury College, has been named the next president of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Elected to the Academy in 2018, she is a distinguished scholar of religion, an author or editor of ten books, a published poet, and a highly accomplished college and university leader.
A Wall Street Journal essay features the CORE Score, a metric created by the Academy's Commission on Reimagining the Economy to help move national focus from how the economy is doing to how Americans are doing. In this essay, the CORE Score helps explain how standard economic measures may indicate a good economy, while that's not what many Americans are feeling about their own wellbeing.
The Academy's first new members were elected in 1781 and today the Academy announced members elected in 2024. The newest members are being recognized and celebrated for their excellence, and invited to join the Academy in connecting across disciplines and divides to advance the common good.
One of the recommendations for strengthening democracy proposed in Our Common Purpose - the report of a bipartisan Academy commission - is expanding national service. To support that initiative, the Academy partnered with organizational leaders in the national service field to develop a better understanding of why people serve and how to increase engagement. This article shares key findings from that effort.