Marc Caron, James B. Duke Professor of cell biology, and Katherine Hayles, professor of literature and English, have been inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Caron and Hayles are the two latest inductees to join the approximately 50 Duke faculty members who are currently active members of the Academy. The American Academy is one of the nation’s oldest honorary societies and is a renowned policy research institution. Its members come from fields ranging from the arts, business, public affairs, science and scholarship, for a total of more than 4,600 fellows and 600 foreign honorary members.
“It’s like the Phi Beta Kappa for people in the arts and sciences,” said Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations, in reference to the nation’s oldest honor society for college students.
Caron, a former investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, conducts research on the regulation of hormones and key neurotransmitters—such as dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine—in the brain, and looks at how G-protein coupled receptors are involved in mechanisms of the central nervous system. His work with the neurotransmitter dopamine also won him the Lieber Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Schizophrenia Research in 2013.
Hayles, a postmodern literary critic, is known for her publications on critical theory and American literature, as well as for her research focuses on digital humanities, science and technology, electronic literature and science fiction.
As members, Caron and Hayles will participate in the American Academy’s efforts to address critical challenges facing the nation today in four main areas—the humanities, arts and education; science, engineering and technology; global security and international affairs; and American institutions and the public good.
Amrith Ramkumar contributed reporting.
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