UCLA Newsroom | April 25, 2024
Philosophy professor Paul Taylor is among five UCLA faculty members elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences for 2024.
The AAAS, one of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies, named a total of 250 artists, scholars, scientists and leaders in the public, nonprofit and private sectors as new members this year. Other UCLA faculty members honored were Ann Carlson, Jason Cong, Tyrone Howard and Thomas Smith.
Taylor, UCLA’s Presidential Professor of Philosophy, conducts research focused on aesthetics, the philosophy of race, American philosophy and Africana philosophy. The author of “Black Is Beautiful: A Philosophy of Black Aesthetics” and “Race: A Philosophical Introduction,” he is currently working on a book project for Oxford University Press on third-wave race thinking, a book for University of Chicago Press called “Dark Futures,” and a Mellon-funded metastudy of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
“What an unexpected but welcome honor,” Taylor said. “It’s gratifying to have one’s work acknowledged and appreciated in this way. I quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson — a fellow Academy member — in my acceptance letter: ‘But do your work and I shall know you.’ I’ve tried to do the work. It’s nice to have that seen.”
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences was founded in 1780 by John Adams, John Hancock and others. Previous academy members include George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, Margaret Mead, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and more than 125 UCLA faculty members, including Chancellor Gene Block and Nobel Prize winner Andrea Ghez.
Induction ceremonies for new members will take place in Cambridge, Massachusetts, this September.
This story was adapted from UCLA Newsroom. Read the full UCLA news release here.