American Philosophical Society

As the oldest learned society in the United States, the American Philosophical Society was founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1743 with the purpose of "promoting useful knowledge."

Through elected membership and opportunities for interdisciplinary, intellectual fellowship, they honor and engage leading scholars, scientists and professionals.

The American Philosophical Society provides grants and fellowships, lectures, publications, awards, exhibitions and public engagement to support research and discovery. They offer their scholars access to their research library of manuscripts and other remarkable collections internationally recognized for their long-standing historical significance.

As part of their current activities, the American Philosophical Society reflects the founder's spirit of inquiry, provides a forum for free exchange of ideas, and conveys their conviction that intellectual inquiry and critical thinking are inherently in the public's best interest.

UCLA members of the American Philosophical Society

A list of members by name, year elected and department.

Name Elected Department
Tyler Burge 2007 Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology
Jared Diamond 1988 Philosophy
David Eisenberg 2003 Chemistry and Biochemistry; David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Lothar von Falkenhausen 2016 Cotsen Institute of Archaeology
Andrea Ghez 2012 Astronomy and Physics
Carlo Ginzburg 2013 History
Lynn Hunt 2003 History
Louis J. Ignarro 2007 David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Vyacheslav Ivanov 1994 Slavic Languages & Literature
Margaret Jacob 2002 History
Margaret Kivelson 2005 Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences
Raphael Levine 1996 Chemistry and Biochemistry
Gary Nash 2000 History
Elizabeth Neufeld 1993 David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
J. William Schopf 1985 Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences
Terence Tao 2012 Mathematics
Shelley E. Taylor 2018 Psychology

This listing includes UCLA faculty active in teaching, research or administration, including emeriti and adjunct faculty. We make every effort to keep these listings current and accurate. Last updated May 2022.

Today the APS promotes useful knowledge through grants, publications, and a world-class research library.

For questions about APS Library collections and research visits, please use the APS Library Reference Requests form. To request copies or to learn more about publication permissions from the APS Library, please visit the Reference Requests page.