Press Release
from Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
Graham Allison, director of Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, has been named to the 2014 class of members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of America’s most prestigious honorary societies.
“It is a privilege to honor these men and women for their extraordinary individual accomplishments,” said Don Randel, chair of the Academy’s Board of Directors. “The knowledge and expertise of our members give the Academy a unique capacity – and responsibility – to provide practical policy solutions to the pressing challenges of the day. We look forward to engaging our new members in this work.”
In a long and distinguished career in academia and government, Allison is perhaps best known for his work to confront and reduce the risk of nuclear weapons.
As Assistant Secretary of Defense in the first Clinton Administration, Allison received the Defense Department’s highest civilian award for curbing the threat of the former Soviet nuclear arsenal.
Allison has written several notable books, including the classic case study Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis, Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe, and his latest, Lee Kuan Yew: The Grand Master’s Insights on China, the United States, and the World.
As founding dean of the modern Kennedy School, he transformed a small, undefined program into the world’s preeminent school of public policy and government.
The current membership of the Academy includes more than 250 Nobel laureates and more than 60 Pulitzer Prize winners. This year’s honorees include winners of the Nobel and Pulitzer prizes; MacArthur, Guggenheim, and Fulbright fellowships; and Grammy, Emmy, Oscar, and Tony awards.
Allison will be inducted at a ceremony on October 11, 2014, at the Academy’s headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts.