National Academy of Sciences Elects Eleven IAS Scholars

Ten former IAS scholars—and one who will join the Institute in the fall—have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 2026. Announced each spring, membership in the NAS represents a unique honor in recognition of original research. For IAS scholars, that research might deal with planetary formation and evolution, time crystals, axion dark matter detection, or algebraic number theory. Across these fields and further, the regular election of Institute researchers to the NAS each year attests to their continued excellence.

NAS elected five mathematicians with ties to the School of Mathematics: Salil Vadhan, Visitor (2000–01); Simon Brendle, Veblen Research Instructor (2003); Maria Chudnovsky, Veblen Research Instructor (2003–05); Scott Aaronson, Member (2004–05); and Christopher Skinner, frequent past Member and Visitor. Their fields range from computational complexity theory to combinatorics, and many work at intersections of math and its real-world applications—like the theoretical foundations of AI safety.

A Member in the School of Social Science, Martin Gilens (2010–11), was also elected. A leading scholar of American politics and public policy, Gilens is widely recognized for his research on inequality, public opinion, and democratic responsiveness.

Finally, from the School of Natural Sciences, Members Hans-Walter Rix (1991–94); Shivaji Sondhi (1998); Pierre Sikivie (2005); and Douglas Lin (2017) were elected. NAS also selected H. Sebastian Seung, who will begin work at the School during the 2026–27 academic year. While at IAS, Seung will co-organize a special program on “Modeling Fly Vision” within the Simons Center for Systems Biology, alongside Misha Tsodyks, C.V. Starr Professor in the School.

This year’s full class numbered 120 members and 25 international members.

Read more on the National Academy of Sciences website.