Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Arts & Culture

Two A&S Professors Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Tuesday, April 29, 2014, By Rob Enslin
Share
College of Arts and Sciences

Two professors in the College of Arts and Sciences have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies.

M. Cristina Marchetti, the William R. Kenan Professor of Physics and associate director of the Syracuse Biomaterials Institute, and George Saunders G’88, professor of English, are part of the Academy’s Class of 2014. They join more than 200 other newly elected scholars, scientists, writers, artists, activists and corporate and philanthropic leaders from around the world.

“We are extremely proud of professors Marchetti and Saunders, whose election to the academy speaks to the scholarly excellence of our faculty,” says George M. Langford, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “Cristina Marchetti is a world leader in theoretical physics—part scientist, part visionary. George Saunders is one of today’s leading short-story writers, known for his trademark wit and singular vision. Both of them are among our finest ambassadors.”

M. Christina Marchetti

M. Cristina Marchetti

Marchetti is one of the leading lights of the physics department, where she also belongs to the Soft Matter Program. Her research seeks to understand the physical principles governing the organization and mechanics of soft and biological matter, from synthetic micro-swimmers (i.e. micron-scale swimming robots) to bacterial suspensions, cells and tissues.

This semester, Marchetti is a Simons Fellow at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she has been studying theoretical modeling of active matter and has organized a four-month program at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics.

“Professor Marchetti is a remarkable leader and an internationally renowned researcher,” says Alan Middleton, professor and chair of physics. “She uses theory and computation to study how swarms of ‘active matter,’ such as bacterial colonies, cells in tissue, and flocks of birds organize, flow and form vortices. Professor Marchetti is also a leading organizer of conferences and schools and plays an active role in the American Physical Society [APS].”

In addition to being a fellow of both the APS and American Association for the Advancement of Science, Marchetti has numerous honors to her name, including the Chancellor’s Citation for Academic Achievement at Syracuse University and a Rotschild-Mayent Sabbatical Fellowship at the Institut Curie in Paris (France).

George Saunders

George Saunders

Saunders is the author of eight books, including “Congratulations, By the Way: Some Thoughts on Kindness” (Random House, 2014), drawn from a speech he gave last year at the college’s undergraduate convocation ceremony, and “Tenth of December” (Random House, 2013), a New York Times bestseller that has spawned a raft of awards, including the Folio Prize, the Story Prize, the PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story and the George Arents Award (SU’s highest alumni award).

Last year, Saunders was called by Time magazine one of the world’s most influential people and was a finalist for the National Book Award. Earlier this month, he participated in a panel discussion titled “Great Universities in the Next 25 Years,” in conjunction with the inauguration of Chancellor Kent Syverud.

“We hired George to teach writing at Syracuse University 18 years back, and he brings to class a similarly humble urge to serve,” says Mary Karr, the college’s Jesse Truesdell Peck Professor of Literature. “His work is a stiff tonic for the vapid agony of contemporary living—great art from the greatest guy.”

Saunders has also received four National Magazine awards, the O. Henry Award and Guggenheim and MacArthur fellowships. In addition to being a regular contributor to The New Yorker, Harper’s and McSweeney’s magazines, he is an accomplished journalist, whose long-form pieces have appeared in GQ and Esquire.

Marchetti and Saunders will be inducted into the academy at its Cambridge, Mass., headquarters on Oct. 11.

The academy is a leading center for independent policy research. Its members contribute to academy publications and studies of science and technology policy; energy and global security; social policy and American institutions; and the humanities, arts and education.

 

  • Author

Rob Enslin

  • Recent
  • Maxwell Sociologists Receive $1.8 Million From the NIA to Study Midlife Health and Mortality
    Sunday, September 24, 2023, By News Staff
  • School of Education Faculty Publish ‘Lesson Study With Mathematics and Science Preservice Teachers’
    Sunday, September 24, 2023, By Martin Walls
  • Water Main Break Near Bird Library to Be Repaired Monday
    Sunday, September 24, 2023, By News Staff
  • University Musicians, West Point Band to Perform Together This Weekend As Part of Events Around Military Appreciation Day
    Friday, September 22, 2023, By Christine Weber
  • Turning Young Enthusiasts Into Scientific Researchers
    Friday, September 22, 2023, By Wendy S. Loughlin

More In Arts & Culture

University to Hold Public Symposium Exploring Role of Monuments in Society

Scholars, artists, curators, activists, local historians and members of the public will convene at Syracuse University Oct. 6-7 to discuss the rightful place of monuments in our society and the increasing complexity they represent today in terms of their cultural,…

Human Rights Film Festival: Changing the World, One Conversation at a Time

From the rural landscape of Michigan, to the devastated landscape of Bucha in the Ukraine, to the virtual landscape of the African diaspora, filmmakers address social issues and the fight for human rights around the globe at the 21st annual…

20 Years of Syracuse Symposium

Even if you haven’t participated in Syracuse Symposium offerings yet, the intriguing and provocative annual themes still may have caught your eye. Topics like Justice (2007-08), Identity (2011-12), Repair (2022-23) and this year’s Landscapes, offer a kaleidoscopic platform for timely…

La Casita to Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month With New Exhibition

La Casita Cultural Center, located at 109 Otisco St. in Syracuse, will mark the beginning of National Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 with a community-wide event and exhibition opening on Friday, Sept. 15, from 6 to 8 p.m. The exhibition, “Futurismo…

Discover These Arts Resources Through the Coalition of Museum and Arts Centers

With the new academic year comes a reminder of the tremendous arts resources available to the Syracuse University community here on campus through the Coalition of Museum and Arts Centers (CMAC). Established in 2005, the mission of CMAC is to…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2023 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.