The American Society of Arts and Sciences has announced the election of Ismail Serageldin as one of its new members. The Academy honors excellence by electing to its membership scholars, artists, scientists, writers and philanthropic leaders of exceptional achievement. The 2012 list of newly elected members includes U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; Melinda F. Gates (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation); Debra A. Fischer, who helped discover more than 200 planetary systems; oncologist Brian Druker, whose research dramatically improved survival rates for leukemia patients. The Academy list of past membership, since its founding in 1780, includes George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill. The current membership includes more than 250 Nobel laureates and more than 60 Pulitzer Prize winners.
The new class will be inducted at a ceremony on October 6, at the Academy headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts.