Peking University, Oct. 14, 2016: On October 7 to 9, 2016, US Eastern time, The American Academy of Arts and Sciences held the Members of the Class of 2016 induction ceremony in Sanders Hall, Harvard University. Each newly inducted member signed on the academy’s autograph book, formally accepting this honor.PKU professors LI Ling and YU Kongjian were among new members. The other new Chinese members were: President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences BAI Chunli, Music Conductor YU Long, HKUST Biology Professor YE Yuru and Taiwan artist LIU Guosong.
The induction ceremony
The three-day event opened with a celebration of the arts and humanities. Seven newly inducted members were invited to deliver speech on their work. They wereEavan Boland, YusefKomunyakaa, YU Kongjian, Diane Ackerman, Mikhail Piotrovskiy, Kim Kashkashian and JoAnn Falletta. YU Kongjian talked on the subject of The Art of Survival and presented his team’s design achievements on ecological remediation and sponge city in the last 20 years, including over 200 domestic and overseas cities. His work has been extolled as “bringing hope to the depressing environment”, for offering solutions to the prevalent ecological and environmental problems in a combined approach of science and art. It is “a force of Nature”, evaluated by Times.
“We are honored to include these new members, who have demonstrated both excellence in their fields and a commitment to serving society.” Concluded by Don Randel, President of the American Academy Board.
“We look forward to the participation of the new members in the work of the Academy—work that is intended to advance the common good,” added Academy President Jonathan F. Fanton. “Our new members will join in the Academy’s long tradition of collaborating across disciplines on research projects and other initiatives that illuminate the pressing issues of our times.”
Written by: FU Guirong
Edited by: Zhang Jiang
