Indigenous studies scholar K. Tsianina Lomawaima elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Arizona State University School of Social Transformation Professor K. Tsianina Lomawaima has been elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The academy's Class of 2018 is a diverse group of 213 individuals who have demonstrated excellence in their respective fields.“The new members of the academy were elected in 25 categories and are affiliated with 125 institutions,” according to an academy press release. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, actor Tom Hanks and former President Barack Obama are among the new members with Lomawaima.

“It is a privilege to be included in such an accomplished and illustrious cohort of new members,” Lomawaima said. “I am especially thrilled to be inducted with three fellow Native members — Tim Giago, Henrietta Mann and Robert Warrior — and to join esteemed colleague Philip J. Deloria.”

Lomawaima is a professor and indigenous studies scholar at the School of Social Transformation. Her research incorporates indigenous studies, anthropology, education, ethnohistory, history, legal analysis and political

science, as she explores the status of Native people as U.S. citizens and Native nations as indigenous sovereigns, the role of Native nations in shaping U.S. federalism, and the history of American Indian education.

Founded in 1780, the academy is one of the oldest learned societies in the country. This independent policy research center focuses on championing scholarship, civil dialogue and useful knowledge. Its class of 2018 joins the existing 4,900 fellows and 600 foreign honorary members, which features notable icons including Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Albert Einstein and Martin Luther King Jr.

The American Academy of Arts & Sciences Class of 2018 will be inducted in October at a ceremony in Cambridge, Massachusetts.