Four U-M professors selected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

April 24, 2024
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Four University of Michigan faculty members have been selected to join the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for their significant contributions in scholarly and professional fields.

The academy has announced that James Joyce, Webb Keane, Alexandra Killewald and John Vandermeer—all affiliated with U-M’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts—are among this year’s new members.

“I am so honored to congratulate the distinguished members of our faculty on their election into this august institution,” said U-M President Santa J. Ono. “We’re so proud of their contributions to the University of Michigan and their fields of the academy, and we look forward to all they will do at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.”

James Joyce
James Joyce

James Joyce, the C. H. Langford Collegiate Professor of Philosophy and professor of statistics, has research interests in rational choice theory, causal reasoning, Bayesian approaches to statistics and inductive inference, the use of “imprecise” probabilities to model belief states, and general philosophy of science.

Webb Keane
Webb Keane

Webb Keane, the George Herbert Mead Distinguished University Professor of Anthropology, has written about topics in social and cultural theory and the ethnography and history of Southeast Asia. His forthcoming book is about the ethical dilemmas posed by interactions with nonhumans and near-humans, including animals and artificial intelligence.

Alexandra (Sasha) Killewald
Alexandra (Sasha) Killewald

Alexandra (Sasha) Killewald is the Robert F. Schoeni Research Professor at the Institute for Social Research, professor of sociology and director of the Stone Center for Inequality Dynamics. She uses quantitative methods to study inequality in the contemporary United States, with a focus on the relationships among work, family, and money.

John Vandermeer
John Vandermeer

John Vandermeer, the Asa Gray Distinguished University Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, studies the role of biodiversity in the functioning of agroecosystems, especially multispecies systems common in tropical areas. His areas of expertise include the spatial ecology of coffee agroecosystems, small-scale sustainable agriculture, biodiversity and food sovereignty.

The academy, founded in 1780, is both an honorary society that recognizes and celebrates the excellence of its members and an independent research center convening leaders from across disciplines, professions and perspectives to address significant challenges.