Semir Zeki elected International Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences was founded in 1780, and its first members included George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and others.  This Academy honours leaders and influential people from all walks of life across the USA, including those from the Sciences, Humanities, Politics, the creative and performing Arts, and also business leadership.  It also elects a small number of particularly distinguished non-US-based International Honorary Members, including, on this occasion, Semir Zeki. 
 
Semir is a particularly appropriate member, as his work explores the neuroscience behind the perception of “beauty” in all its forms, and he has made huge contributions to this area, as well as via his seminal classical work on the mechanisms of colour vision.
 
The formal award ceremony will be in September 2024 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he will share the stage with other newly-elected members which, on this occasion, will include household names such as George Clooney and Ruth Rogers (trailblazer chef/founder of the River Café in London). 
 

Further Information

• Professor Semir Zeki profile
• UCL Division of Biosciences
• Research Department of Cell and Developmental Biology
• American Academy of Arts and Sciences list of new Academy Members for 2024