Eight Northwestern faculty members were elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an honorary society and research center founded in 1780, according to a Wednesday news release by the University.

McCormick Prof. Guillermo Ameer, McCormick Prof. Jian Cao, chemistry Prof. Mercouri Kanatzidis, chemistry Prof. Shana Kelley, sociology and Black studies Prof. Aldon Morris, Feinberg Prof. Susan Quaggin, Feinberg Prof. Ali Shilatifard and art history Prof. Krista Thompson are among the nearly 270 members elected this year. 

Shilatifard, chair of the biochemistry and molecular genetics department, is among NU’s new members. He has spent three decades researching childhood leukemia in hopes of finding a cure.

Kelley researches the development of new biomedical tools for diagnosing and treating disease. She has patented more than 50 inventions and founded four life sciences companies.

Morris authored “The Origins of the Civil Rights Movement” and “The Scholar Denied: W. E. B. Du Bois and the Birth of Modern Sociology.” His second book challenges the sociological canon and urges sociologists to rethink their theory and methodology.

“With the election of these members, the academy is honoring excellence, innovation and leadership and recognizing a broad array of stellar accomplishments,” Academy President David Oxtoby said in the news release. “We hope every new member celebrates this achievement and joins our work advancing the common good.”

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