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 TheNational Academy of Sciences building inWashington, D.C. in 2000 | |
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| Formation | March 3, 1863; 162 years ago (1863-03-03) |
|---|---|
| Founders | Alexander Dallas Bache Abraham Lincoln |
| Founded at | 2101Constitution Avenue, NW,Washington, D.C., U.S. 20418 |
| Type | NGO |
| Coordinates | 38°53′46″N77°02′12″W / 38.89598°N 77.03658°W /38.89598; -77.03658 |
Parent organization | National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine |
| Endowment | $553.9 million (2020)[1] |
| Website | nasonline |
TheNational Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit,non-governmental organization. NAS is part of theNational Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with theNational Academy of Engineering (NAE) and theNational Academy of Medicine (NAM).
As anational academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. Election to the National Academy is one of the highest honors in the scientific field in the United States.Members of the National Academy of Sciences servepro bono as "advisers to the nation" on science, engineering, and medicine. The group holds acongressional charter underTitle 36 of the United States Code.
Congress legislated and PresidentAbraham Lincoln signed anAct of Congress (1863) establishing the National Academy of Sciences as an independent, trusted nongovernmental institution, created for the purpose of "providing independent, objective advice to the nation on matters related to science and technology [and] to provide scientific advice to the government 'whenever called upon' by any government department."[2] This objective gave the academy the purpose of enriching and providing resources to any part of the federal government—rather than serving a single branch or executive agency, in contrast to the Library of Congress or many entities that report to the President. The goal was somewhat unusual at the time, and also different than other knowledge-based entities serving a branch of government, such as the Library of Congress. The academy receives no compensation from the government for its services.[3]
As of 2024[update], the National Academy of Sciences includes 2,687NAS members and 531international members.[4] It employed about 1,100 staff in 2005.[5][6] Some 190 members have won a Nobel Prize.[4] By its own admission in 1989, the addition of women to the academy "continues at a dismal trickle"; at that time there were 1,516 male members and 57 female members.[7]
The National Academy of Sciences is one of the 135 member organizations of theInternational Science Council (ISC). Although there is no formal relationship with state and local academies of science, there often is informal dialogue. The National Academy is governed by a 17-member Council, made up of five officers (president, vice president, home secretary, international secretary, and treasurer) and 12 Councilors, all of whom are elected from among the academy membership.[8] Agencies of the United States government fund about 85 percent of the academy's activities. Further funding comes from state governments, private foundations, and industrial organizations.[9]
The council has the ability, ad hoc, to delegate certain tasks to committees. For example, the Committee on Animal Nutrition has produced a series ofNutrient requirements of domestic animals reports since at least 1944, each one being initiated by a different subcommittee of experts in the field, for example, ondairy cattle.[citation needed]
The National Academy of Sciences meets annually in Washington, D.C., which is documented in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), its scholarly journal. TheNational Academies Press is the publisher for the National Academies and makes more than 5,000 publications freely available on its website.[10]
From 2004 to 2017, the National Academy of Sciences administered theMarian Koshland Science Museum to provide public exhibits and programming related to its policy work. The museum's exhibits focused onclimate change andinfectious disease. In 2017, the museum closed and made way for a new science outreach program called LabX.[11][12]
The Act of Incorporation, signed by PresidentAbraham Lincoln on March 3, 1863, created the National Academy of Sciences and named 50 charter members. Many of the originalNAS members came from the so-called "Scientific Lazzaroni", an informal network of mostly physical scientists working in the vicinity ofCambridge, Massachusetts (c. 1850).[13]
In 1863, the organizers enlisted the support ofAlexander Dallas Bache, and alsoCharles Henry Davis, a professionalastronomer who had been recently recalled from the Navy toWashington to head theBureau of Navigation. They also elicited support from Swiss-American geologistLouis Agassiz and American mathematicianPeirce, who together planned the steps whereby the National Academy of Sciences was to be established. SenatorHenry Wilson of Massachusetts was to name Agassiz to the Board of Regents of theSmithsonian Institution.[14]
Agassiz was to come to Washington, D.C., at the government's expense to plan the organization with the others. This bypassedJoseph Henry, who was reluctant to have a bill for such an academy presented toCongress. This was in the belief that such a resolution would be "opposed as something at variance with our democratic institutions". Nevertheless, Henry soon became the second President of NAS. Agassiz, Davis, Peirce,Benjamin Gould and Senator Wilson met at Bache's house and "hurriedly wrote the bill incorporating the Academy, including in it the name of fifty incorporators".[15]
During the last hours of the session, when the Senate was immersed in the rush of last-minute business before its adjournment, Senator Wilson introduced the bill. Without examining it or debating its provisions, both the Senate and House approved it, and President Lincoln signed it.[15]
Although hailed as a great step forward in government recognition of the role of science in American society, at the time, the National Academy of Sciences created enormous ill feelings among scientists,[15] whether or not they were named as incorporators.
The act states:
[T]he Academy shall, whenever called upon by any department of the Government, investigate, examine, experiment, and report upon any subject of science or art, the actual expense of such investigations, examinations, experiments, and reports to be paid from appropriations which may be made for the purpose, but the Academy shall receive no compensation whatever for any services to the Government of the United States.[16]
The National Academies did not solve the problems facing a nation inCivil War as the Lazzaroni had hoped, nor did it centralize American scientific efforts.[15] However, election to the National Academy did come to be considered "the pinnacle of scientific achievement for Americans" until the establishment of the Nobel Prize at the end of the 19th century.[17]: 30
In 1870, the congressional charter was amended to remove the limitation on the number of members.[18]
In 2013, astrophysicistNeil deGrasse Tyson was asked to write a speech for the 150th anniversary of theGettysburg Address in which he made the point that one of Lincoln's greatest legacies was establishing NAS in that same year, which had the long-term effect of "setting our Nation on a course of scientifically enlightened governance, without which we all may perish from this Earth".[19]
The academy currently (as of late 2024) has 6,892 members, including international ones, both past and present. 3218 of them are living. Existing members elect new members for life. Up to 120 members are elected annually, while up to 30 foreign citizens may be elected as international members annually. The election process begins with a formal nomination, followed by a vetting period, and culminates in a final ballot at the academy's annual meeting in April each year. Members are affiliated with a specific scientific field in one of six so-called "classes", which include: Physical and Mathematical Sciences; Biological Sciences; Engineering and Applied Sciences; Biomedical Sciences; Behavioral andSocial Sciences; and Applied Biological, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.[6]
Over the entire history of the NAS,Harvard University is associated with the most members (331) overall, while theUniversity of California at Berkeley is associated with the most members (255) without including the medical school. Examples of top schools, UC Berkeley/MIT/Princeton/Caltech do not have medical schools, while Harvard/Stanford do. The top ten institutions, two of which are from theUniversity of California System and another four of which are in theIvy League, account for nearly 28% of all members ever elected. Those ten are also precisely the only institutions in the entire history of the NAS to have had 100 or more members overall.[citation needed]
On the list for living members, only 14 institutions have 50 or more members overall, including the medical school (where it applies). They represent 32% of all living members of the NAS.
| Top 14 Primary Institutions (50 or more Living Members) | Living Members (Including Medical School) | Living Members (Excluding Medical School) |
|---|---|---|
| Harvard University** | 179[20] | 113[20] |
| Stanford University** | 178[21] | 149[22] |
| University of California at Berkeley | 143[23] | 143[23] |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 122[24] | 122[24] |
| Princeton University | 90[25] | 90[25] |
| Columbia University** | 73[26] | 57[27] |
| Yale University** | 73[28] | 56[29] |
| California Institute of Technology | 72[30] | 72[30] |
| University of Chicago** | 55[31] | 55[32] |
| University of California San Diego** | 52[33] | 50[34] |
| Max Planck Institutes (Germany) | 52[35] | 52[35] |
| University of Washington** | 51[36] | 46[37] |
| University of California Los Angeles** | 49[38] | 42[39] |
| National Institutes of Health | 45[40] | 45[40] |
| Top 10 Primary Institutions (All-time Members) | All-time Members (1863–2024) (Excluding Medical School) | All-time Members (1863–2024) (Including Medical School) |
|---|---|---|
| University of California at Berkeley | 255[41] | 255[41] |
| Harvard University** | 235[42] | 331[43] |
| Stanford University** | 234[44] | 274[45] |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 219[46] | 219[46] |
| Princeton University | 133[47] | 133[47] |
| California Institute of Technology | 132[48] | 132[48] |
| University of Chicago** | 129[49] | 130[50] |
| Columbia University** | 124[51] | 136[52] |
| University of California San Diego** | 116[53] | 122[54] |
| Yale University** | 103[55] | 137[56] |
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The National Academy of Sciences maintains multiple buildings around the United States. TheNational Academy of Sciences Building is located at 2101Constitution Avenue, in northwestWashington, D.C.; it sits on theNational Mall, adjacent to theMarriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building and in front of theheadquarters of theU.S. State Department. The building has aneoclassical architectural style and was built by architectBertram Grosvenor Goodhue. The building was dedicated in 1924[57] and is listed on theNational Register of Historic Places. Goodhue engaged a team of artists and architectural sculptors, includingAlbert Herter,Lee Lawrie, andHildreth Meière to design interior embellishments celebrating the history and significance of science.[58] The building is used for lectures, symposia, exhibitions, and concerts, in addition to annual meetings of the NAS, NAE, and NAM. Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences hosts exhibitions exploring intersections of art, science, and culture such asMathemalchemy.[59] The 2012 Presidential Award for Math and Science Teaching ceremony was held here on March 5, 2014. Approximately 150 staff members work at the NAS Building. In June 2012, it reopened to visitors after a major two-year restoration project, which restored and improved the building's historic spaces, increased accessibility, and brought the building's aging infrastructure and facilities up to date.[60]
More than 1,000 National Academies staff members work at The Keck Center of the National Academies at 500 Fifth Street in northwest Washington, D.C. The Keck Center provides meeting space and houses the National Academies Press Bookstore.[61] TheMarian Koshland Science Museum of the National Academy of Sciences – formerly located at 525 E St., N.W. – hosted visits from the public, school field trips, and permanent science exhibits.[62]
NAS also maintains conference centers in California and Massachusetts.[61] The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center is located on 100 Academy Drive inIrvine, California, near the campus of theUniversity of California, Irvine; it offers a conference center and houses several NAS programs. The J. Erik Jonsson Conference Center, located at 314 Quissett Avenue inWoods Hole, Massachusetts, is an NAS conference facility.[63][citation needed]
The president is the head of the academy, elected by a majority vote of the membership to serve in this position for a term to be determined by the governing Council, not to exceed six years, and may be re-elected for a second term. Terms usually start on July 1 and end on June 30. The academy has had 22 presidents since its foundation.[64] The current president isgeophysicistMarcia K. McNutt, the first woman to hold this position. Her term expires on June 30, 2026.[65]
| No. | Image | President | Term | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Alexander Dallas Bache | 1863–1867 | |
| 2 |  | Joseph Henry | 1868–1878 | |
| 3 |  | William Barton Rogers | 1879–1882 | |
| 4 |  | Othniel Charles Marsh | 1883–1895 | |
| 5 |  | Wolcott Gibbs | 1895–1900 | |
| 6 |  | Alexander Agassiz | 1901–1907 | |
| 7 |  | Ira Remsen | 1907–1913 | |
| 8 |  | William Henry Welch | 1913–1917 | |
| 9 |  | Charles Doolittle Walcott | 1917–1923 | |
| 10 |  | Albert Abraham Michelson | 1923–1927 | |
| 11 |  | Thomas Hunt Morgan | 1927–1931 | |
| 12 |  | William Wallace Campbell | 1931–1935 | |
| 13 |  | Frank Rattray Lillie | 1935–1939 | |
| 14 |  | Frank Baldwin Jewett | 1939–1947 | |
| 15 |  | Alfred Newton Richards | 1947–1950 | |
| 16 |  | Detlev Wulf Bronk | 1950–1962 | |
| 17 | Frederick Seitz | 1962–1969 | ||
| 18 | Philip Handler | 1969–1981 | ||
| 19 |  | Frank Press | 1981–1993 | [66] |
| 20 |  | Bruce Michael Alberts | 1993–2005 | [67][68] |
| 21 |  | Ralph J. Cicerone | 2005–2016 | [69] |
| 22 |  | Marcia McNutt | 2016–present | [70][71] |
Source[72]
The academy gives a number of different awards:
In 2005, the national science academies of theG8 forum (including the National Academy of Sciences) and science academies of Brazil, China, and India (three of the largest emitters ofgreenhouse gases in the developing world) signed a statement on the global response toclimate change. The statement stresses that the scientific understanding of climate change has become sufficiently clear to justify nations taking prompt action.[74]
On May 7, 2010, a letter signed by 255 Academy members was published inScience magazine, decrying "political assaults" against climate change scientists.[75][76] This was in response to acivil investigative demand on theUniversity of Virginia (UVA) by Virginia Attorney GeneralKen Cuccinelli, seeking a broad range of documents fromMichael E. Mann, a former UVA professor from 1999 to 2005.[77][78] Mann, who currently works at theUniversity of Pennsylvania, is a climate change researcher, and Cuccinelli alleges that Mann may have defrauded Virginia taxpayers in the course of his environmental research. Investigations had cleared Mann of charges that he falsified or suppressed data.[79]
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