Five Northwestern faculty members will be among the 209 people elected as new fellows to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences on October 13 for their distinguished contributions to their professions.
Education Prof. Greg Duncan said when he received news of his induction in late April, he was ecstatic – especially about meeting the director of “Annie Hall,” another inductee.
“I don’t know if you know,” Duncan said, “but Woody Allen is getting inducted. I don’t know if he will be there in October, but that’ll be (something).”
“It’s a great honor,” he added. “Only a small number are elected every year. I can say I’m in the company of Woody Allen.”
The other NU inductees are math Prof. Andrei Suslin, chemistry Prof. Mark Ratner, law Prof. Ian MacNeil and Speech adjunct Prof. Frank Galati.
As a former director of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics project in Wisconsin, Duncan has conducted studies of nature and consequence for impoverished children. He is also the author of three books.
“A new project that I’m hoping to start on is looking at college students,” Duncan said. “We’re looking at a midwestern university that randomly assigns roommates and how it affects their grades. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
In chemistry, Ratner formulated theoretical framework for guidance in experimental studies with electrons. He has developed molecular modeling and techniques to predict the behavior of large molecules in science.
“People have called him the father of molecular electrons,” said Sonbinh Nguyen, an assistant professor in chemistry. “He has a long list of accomplishments. It’s an honor he should have gotten a long time ago.”
MacNeil was elected for his contributions to the social sciences. He originated and developed the concept of rational contracts in law, which has been widely acknowledged as one of the central schools of thought in modern contract law.
“He is one of our most important contract scholars,” Charles Rooney, the Academy’s public information officer, wrote in an e-mail.
Suslin was awarded for his work in mathematics, including fundamental computations in algebraic K-theory, a field in algebra of broad interest and relevance to many other parts of mathematics. He has also received awards from the College of France and the Leningrad and Moscow mathematical societies.
This year, he won the Cole Prize, which is one of the highest distinctions given in the fields of number theory and algebra.
And Tony award-winning director Frank Galati is being recognized for his contributions in the humanities and arts. A fixture at both the Steppenwolf Theatre and the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, he won a Tony Award for directing his own adaptation of “The Grapes of Wrath” in 1990 and for the Broadway hit “Ragtime.”
Based in Cambridge, Mass., the academy boasts 3,700 fellows and 600 honorary foreign members. New fellows are chosen through an extensive selection process by members of the academy.
Founded in 1780 by John Adams, John Hancock and other leaders of the American Revolution, the academy has more than 150 Nobel laureates, 50 Pulitzer Prize winners and, as of October, Woody Allen.
