Prestigious Honor for President Cowen

Tulane University President Scott Cowen is among 229 leaders in the sciences, the humanities and the arts, business, public affairs and the nonprofit sector who have been elected members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the world's most prestigious honorary societies.

Civic, corporate and philanthropic leaders, as well as scholars, scientists, jurists, writers and artists are among the new fellows and foreign honorary members announced on Monday (April 19). The honorees include winners of the Nobel, Pulitzer and Shaw Prizes; MacArthur and Guggenheim fellows; and Grammy, Tony and Oscar award-winners.

Cowen is among 10 higher education and foundation leaders in the new class. He joins a diverse group of honorees including Microsoft's chief software architect Ray Ozzie, creator of Lotus Notes; Samuel Palmisano, chair and CEO of IBM; actors John Lithgow and Denzel Washington; director Francis Ford Coppola; jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins; and distinguished researchers including Nobel laureate economist Myron Scholes and scientist Timothy Ley, who led the group that sequenced the first human cancer genome.

A complete list of the 2010 honorees is located here. The academy also elected foreign honorary members from Australia, Canada, Finland, India, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

The new class will be inducted at a ceremony on Oct. 9 at the academy's headquarters in Cambridge, Mass.

Established in 1780 by John Adams and other founders of the nation, the academy undertakes studies of complex and emerging problems. It has elected leading “thinkers and doers” from each generation, including George Washington and Benjamin Franklin in the 18th century, Daniel Webster and Ralph Waldo Emerson in the 19th and Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill in the 20th. The current membership includes more than 250 Nobel laureates and more than 60 Pulitzer Prize winners.