american academy of arts & sciences spring 2015 www.amacad.org vol. lxviii, no. 3 american academy of arts & sciences bulletin spring 2015 Bulletin Academy Report Explores the State of the Humanities in Higher Education The Invention of Courts Jamal Greene, Carol S. Steiker, Susan S. Silbey, Linda Greenhouse, Jonathan Lippman, and Judith Resnik The Unstable Biomedical Research Ecosystem: How Can It Be Made More Robust? Mark C. Fishman, Nancy C. Andrews, Sally Kornbluth, Susan R. Wente, Richard H. Brodhead, Harold Varmus, and Tania Baker ALSO: Replenishing the Innovation Pipeline: The Role of University Research Mr g–The Story of Creation as Told by God Policy Perspective on the Police Use of Lethal Force On the Professions In Memoriam: David Frohnmayer Upcoming Events JUNE NOVEMBER 15th 17th Washington, DC Cambridge, MA The Ritz-Carlton Georgetown House of the Academy Reception for Washington, DC, Chamber Series Area Fellows and Guests in collaboration with the Welcome Newly Elected Fellows Cantata Singers Made in America: Songs by Barber, OCTOBER Copland, and Fine 9th–11th Cambridge, MA Induction Weekend 9th A Celebration of the Arts and Humanities 10th Induction Ceremony 11th Academic Symposium For updates and additions to the calendar, visit www.amacad.org. Special Thanks e recently completed another successful fund-raising year with more than W$6.7 million raised. The Annual Fund surpassed $1.7 million, a record-break- ing total. Gifts from all other sources–including grants for projects–totaled more than $5 million. We are grateful for the generosity of an increasing number of contributors–including members, staff, and friends; foundations, corporations, and associations; and Univer- sity Affiliates–who made these results possible. A complete list of contributors will be sent to all members in the fall and will also be available on the Academy’s website. From the President n 1993, Academy President Leo Beranek wrote in the Records of the Academy, “The Academy was founded on the idea that I this nation could be best served by an institution that avoided every narrow form of partisanship–one that sought to involve individuals whose interests were diverse, who espoused no single philosophy and belonged to no one profession. Today, as an institution free of public and private constraints, the Academy is uniquely situated to bring the intellectual resources of its membership to bear on the social and intellectual dilemmas facing the country and the world.” This theme of member engagement, of encouraging the Acad­ areas, and plans are underway to form committees in North Caro­ emy’s diverse membership to work together on “the social and lina and Southern California. In the coming year we will also work to intellectual dilemmas facing the country and the world,” has been establish committees in New Haven, New York, Chicago, Houston, central to the Academy’s activity since 1780. And it has been a special and San Francisco. point of emphasis over the past academic year. There are more than In addition to our traditional portfolio of projects and events, the ten studies now underway at the Academy, together drawing on the Academy has established a new Exploratory Fund to enable mem­ intellectual resources of hundreds of members. From the Lincoln bers to convene colleagues from a range of disciplines and institu­ Project on public research universities, to the Alternative Energy tions and explore questions of shared interest. The first proposals Future project, to an emerging study on New Dilemmas in Ethics, to receive Exploratory Fund support include a symposium on the Technology, and War, these studies engage members from diverse state of legal services for the poor, a series of meetings on the future professions and disciplines and bring them together to collaborate of jazz, and a conference exploring new ideas for communication and serve the nation in areas of great need. Updates on several of among people with autism. I encourage you to bring your ideas for­ these projects are provided in this issue of the Bulletin. ward in a letter or phone call to me. I would like to welcome the newly elected Fellows and Foreign Looking ahead, communications from the Academy will also Honorary Members of the Academy, some of whom are already provide more space for members to share their work and ideas. We contributing to the Academy’s work as authors in Dædalus or as have introduced a new section in this issue of the Bulletin, entitled advisors on projects and studies. The names of the 197 new mem­ “On the Professions,” as a way for members to stimulate conversa­ bers elected in April may be found on pages 53–55 of this issue. I tions about their work and new developments in their fields. I hope hope you will reach out to your new colleagues and encourage them you will consider contributing to this feature. to become engaged and active in the Academy. Clearly, there are many new opportunities for members to be This academic year we have also made a special effort to bring the engaged in the work and life of the Academy. To strengthen the Academy to its members, traveling to twelve cities around the coun­ Academy’s capacity to serve its members, the Academy has cre­ try and hosting over twenty­five events, many of them following ated a position of Director of Member Engagement. I am pleased up on our science report Restoring the Foundation. In addition to New to report that Laurie McDonough will join the Academy in this York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, we have held meet­ capacity on June 1. For the past ten years Laurie has worked at the ings in cities and at institutions where the Academy has not tradition­ Stanford University School of Humanities and Sciences, where she ally met, such as in Princeton, New Haven, Philadelphia, Durham, planned and implemented outreach, stewardship, and engagement Atlanta, and Houston. In all, over 850 members have attended an events. Laurie earned an A.B. in Chemistry from Bowdoin College Academy event in person during this academic year. And we have and a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the University of Colorado. heard the clear demand for more programs: The Academy is increas­ I hope you will find in this issue, and in the Academy more gen­ ing its programming at the House of the Academy in Cambridge, erally, many reasons to participate in the Academy’s work and adding, for example, more musical performances and presentations. opportunities to address “the social and intellectual dilemmas fac­ Our Stated Meetings, meanwhile, have been live­streamed to New ing the country and the world.” York and Chicago, with more cities to be added next year. This issue I wish you a restful and productive summer and, as always, wel­ of the Bulletin includes transcripts of some of the diverse programs come your questions about the Academy and suggestions for its that have recently been presented; we welcome your suggestions of future. Please feel free to write me at [email protected]. discussion topics and event locations for next year. The Academy is also establishing committees at universi ties and in local communities around the nation to host and facilitate meetings of Academy members on topics of mutual interest. Local committees have been established in the Princeton and Philadelphia Contents Projects and Publications 3 New Report Explores the State of the Humanities in Higher Education 5 The Lincoln Project Convenes Regional Forums 6 Dædalus Examines the “Successful Aging of Societies” Presentations 8 The Unstable Biomedical Research Ecosystem: How Can It Be Made More Robust? Richard H. Brodhead, Harold Varmus, Susan R. Wente, Tania Baker, Mark C. Fishman, Nancy C. Andrews, and Sally Kornbluth 18 Replenishing the Innovation Pipeline: The Role of University Research John L. Hennessy, Ann M. Arvin, Carla J. Shatz, and Peter S. Kim 25 Mr g–The Story of Creation as Told by God Lisa Sowle Cahill, Edward J. Hall, and Alan Lightman 32 Policy Perspectives on Police Use of Lethal Force Andrea Roth and Franklin Zimring 36 The Invention of Courts Judith Resnik, Jonathan Lippman, Carol S. Steiker, Susan S. Silbey, Jamal Greene, and Linda Greenhouse Update on Members 53 2015 Class of New Members 56 On the Professions 68 In Memoriam: David Frohnmayer 70 Noteworthy the state of the humanities in higher education New Academy Report Explores the State of the Humanities in Higher Education ecent discussions about the state of the humanities in higher education have portrayed the field as beleaguered and R declining. As a corrective, the Academy released a new report in early April, The State of the Humanities: Higher Edu- cation 2015 (available online at http://www.humanitiesindicators.org/binaries/pdf/HI_HigherEd2015.pdf ), which is intended to provide a more balanced and evidence-based depiction of the health of the humanities on college and univer- sity campuses. While it examines the trend that has fed the story of decline in the field–a shrinking share of degrees at the baccalaureate level–the report also notes signs of stability or improvement for the human­ ities fields, including evidence of rising interest in the humanities at the pre­baccalaureate level (indicated in rising numbers of ap tests taken and community college degrees earned), increases in funding (from low levels, in comparison to other fields), and a steady stream of new academic books in the field. The State of the Humanities: Higher Education 2015 draws on the lat­ est research and analysis from the Academy’s Humanities Indica­ tors (http://www.humanitiesindicators.org), an ongoing research initiative that combines government data and high­quality data from private sources (including the Academy’s humanities depart­ mental surveys) to illuminate key trends in the humanities.