Harryette Mullen among 3 UCLA professors elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

In 1781, Benjamin Franklin and George Washington were among the first members elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies.

This year, three UCLA faculty members were elected to join them. UCLA’s new members for 2023 are:

Heather Maynard
Maynard is UCLA’s Dr. Myung Ki Hong Professor of Polymer Science and a member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA. A leader in the area of protein-polymer conjugates — important therapeutics for a variety of diseases — Maynard develops new synthetic methods to make the materials, invents new polymers to improve properties such as stability and demonstrates preclinical efficacy of her conjugates with an eye toward translation for human health. She also works in the area of smart materials for precision medicine.

“I am honored and humbled to be elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a society established to recognize people, both past and present, whose knowledge, discoveries and innovations enrich and make better the world,” she said. “I hope to continue my work to add to their contributions.”

Harryette Mullen
Mullen, a professor of English, is a poet, short story writer and literary scholar whose two most recent books are “Urban Tumbleweed: Notes from a Tanka Diary” and “Broken Glish: Five Prose Poems.” Her collection “Recyclopedia” won a PEN Beyond Margins Award, and her book “Sleeping with the Dictionary” was a finalist for a National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award and Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She is also the recipient of awards and honors from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the Academy of American Poets and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, among others.

“It is an unimagined honor to find my name added to the long, illustrious list of accomplished thinkers, performers and creators elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an organization that aspires to expanding knowledge, enriching culture and working toward shared ideals,” she said.

Daniel Treisman
Treisman is a political science professor and a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. His studies focus on Russian politics and economics as well as comparative political economy, including the analysis of democratization, the politics of authoritarian states, political decentralization and corruption.

“It’s humbling to be invited to join this incredible association of scholars,” he said. “So many of my intellectual heroes have been — or still are — Academy members.”

This year’s nearly 270 inductees are drawn from academia, the arts, industry, policy, research and science, and include more than 40 international honorary members from 23 countries.

“In its earliest days, the Academy sought members who would help address issues and opportunities confronting a young nation,” said Nancy Andrews, chair of the academy’s board of directors. “We feel a similar urgency and have elected a class that brings diverse expertise to meet the pressing challenges and possibilities that America and the world face today.”