Peking University Professor Yuan Xingpei Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Apr 25, 2018
Peking University, April 19, 2018: The American Academy of Arts and Sciences officially announced the list of newly elected members on April 18, 2018. A grand total of 177 American academicians and 36 International Honorary Members were elected. Among the 2018 inductees is Yuan Xingpei, a professor from the Department of Chinese Language and Literature of Peking University.
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, also known as the American Academy or AAAS for short, was established by the Massachusetts Legislature on May 4, 1780, and is one of the oldest academic societies and independent policy research centers in the United States. The first dean of the Academy was John Adams, the first Vice President and the second President of the United States.
Today, Academy membership consists of 4,900 Fellows and 600 Foreign Honorary Members from diverse disciplines and professions including mathematics, physical and biological sciences, medicine, social sciences, humanities, business, government, public affairs and arts. Among the Academy's Fellows are more than 250 Nobel Laureates and 60 Pulitzer Prize winners. Many famous Chinese scholars such as Hu Shi, Tsien Hsueshen, Tsung-Dao Lee, Samuel Chao Chung Ting, Yuan Tseh Lee,Shing-Tung Yau, Xie Xide, Wu Hung, Daniel Cheel Tsui, Tian Gang, Shi Yigong, Yu Kongjian, and Li Ling have previously been elected to the institute.
Professor Yuan currently is a Senior Professor in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature and Dean of the Research Institute of Guoxue of Peking University. Previously he has served as Director of the International Academy for China Studies, President of the Central Institute of Chinese Culture and History, Editor-in-Chief of Studies in Sinology. Professor Yuan is well-known as an expert in classical literature and his work has received wide recognition. He was also a member of the Eighth and Ninth Standing Committees of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and of the Tenth Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. He also served as the Vice Chairman of the Eighth and Ninth China Democratic League.
Yuan Xingpei’s major works include Research on Chinese Poetic Art, Introduction to Chinese Literature, Research on Tao Yuanming, Notes and Commentary on Works of Tao Yuanming, Imagery of Tao Yuanming, The Style and Characteristics of Tang Poetry, and Contemporary Scholars Series: Yuan Xingpei. In addition, he is also the co-author of A Study on the Poetic Circles of High Tang, the editor of the four-volume collection A History of Chinese Civilization and the chief editor of the four-volume The History of Chinese Literature, the four-volume Selected Notes of Chinese Literary Works, and Reference Materials on the History of Literature in Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties.
Along with Yuan Xingpei, Cao Xuetao was another Chinese member elected to the AAAS. He is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, the former Dean of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the President of Nankai University. In addition, four Chinese American scholars were also elected: Zhang Feng, the James and Patricia Poitras Professor of Neuroscience within the Departments of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Biological Engineering, and investigator at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Chen Gang, the Carl Richard Soderberg Professor of Power Engineering and head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Lin Haifan, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Cell Biology and Founding Director of the Stem Cell Center at Yale; and Liu Jianguo, Director of Michigan State University’s Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability.
For more information:
Li Ling and Yu Kongjian accepts the honor of members of American Academy of Arts & Sciences
Written by: Kemerly Wang
Edited by: Zhou Yijing, Erin Dunne
Source: PKU News (Chinese)
