Two Penn professors have been newly admitted to the American Academy of Sciences and Letters.
History professor emeritus Alan Charles Kors and Philip Tetlock, the Leonore Annenberg University Professor of Democracy and Citizenship and a Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor with appointments in the School of Arts & Sciences, Wharton School, and Annenberg School for Communication, were named two of the Academy’s 60 newly invested permanent members. The organization provides a platform for academics to share their work in various fields, including mathematics, engineering, and social and natural sciences.
Kors taught at Penn from 1968 to 2017 as the Henry Charles Lea Professor Emeritus of History, specifically focusing on European intellectual history of the 17th and 18th centuries. He has received numerous awards for distinguished teaching and his defense of academic freedom, including a National Humanities Medal in 2005.
Tetlock primarily focuses on decision-making and has published over 200 articles and written over 10 books throughout his career. He has also received the Woodrow Wilson Award for best book on government, politics, or international affairs.
On Nov. 12, the new Academy members were honored at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Founded in 2023 and based in Dover, Delaware, AASL supports education and honors “outstanding scholarly excellence and intellectual courage in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering, as well as in the arts and the learned professions.” The organization is governed by a board of 10 individuals, scholars who are recognized nationally and internationally for their exceptional work in a wide range of fields of expertise.
“Like other academies, we honor intellectual excellence, but our Academy is distinguished by a special accent on intellectual courage,” AASL president Donald Landry said to Penn Today. “All our new members this year reflect the independence of mind we strive to honor.”
