3 ASU researchers elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences elected three Arizona State University faculty members to its Class of 2018. The ASU researchers are Lindy Elkins-Tanton, Robert Cialdini and K. Tsianina Lomawaima.

Academy members are chosen for being exceptional scholars, leaders, artists and innovators. Along with ASU’s inductees, the Class of 2018 also will induct 44th president of the United States Barack Obama, NASA climatologist Claire Parkinson, and Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

The academy was founded in 1790, and is one of the oldest learned societies and independent policy research centers in the U.S. It convenes leaders from academia, business and government sectors to address critical challenges facing the global society.

Elkins-Tanton is the director of ASU’s School of Earth and Space Exploration. She also is co-chair of ASU’s Interplanetary Initiative and is principal investigator of the NASA Psyche mission, a robotic orbiter visiting a metal asteroid. Her research includes theory, observation and experiments focused on terrestrial planetary formation, magma oceans and planetary evolution.

Cialdini is a Regents’ Professor Emeritus of psychology and marketing. His research interests include persuasion and compliance, altruism and the tactics of favorable self-presentation.

Lomawaima is a professor in ASU’s School of Social Transformation, part of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and is a professor in ASU’s Center for Indian Education. Her research focuses on the sovereignty of Native people and nations, the role of Native nations in shaping U.S. federalism, and the history of American Indian education.

“Membership in the academy is not only an honor, but also an opportunity and a responsibility,” said academy President Jonathan Fanton. “Members can be inspired and engaged by connecting one another and through academy projects dedicated to the common good.”