Murray Edwards Fellow elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Murray Edwards Fellow Professor Hiranya Peiris has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the world’s most prestigious learned societies.

Hiranya, who holds the Professorship of Astrophysics (1909) at the University of Cambridge, is among 252 leaders in academia, the arts, industry, journalism, philanthropy, policy, research and science elected in 2026: the 250th anniversary of the founding of America. She becomes an International Honorary Member of the Academy.

Hiranya joins a long line of illustrious members over the Academy’s history, from Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton to Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Martin Luther King, Jr and Salman Rushdie. Current British members include Hiranya’s fellow Murray Edwards/New Hall alumna and astrophysicist Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, discoverer of pulsars, and the Astronomer Royal Martin Rees, Emeritus Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics at Cambridge.

The Academy, chartered in 1780, was established to recognise accomplished individuals and engage them in addressing the greatest challenges facing the young American republic. The first members elected include George Washington, who in his first annual message to Congress in 1790 said, 'Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness.'

Hiranya said: ‘I am deeply honoured to be elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. I am especially delighted to be a member of an institution founded on the conviction that the arts and sciences belong together. I began my career studying the oldest light in the universe, and my subsequent path led in unexpected directions and across disciplinary boundaries that, to me, never felt real. The most rewarding part of that journey has been the people I've shared it with: the students, postdocs, and collaborators who chose to explore the unmapped territory between fields alongside me. This honour belongs to them as much as to me.’

Murray Edwards Acting President Dr Rachel Polonsky said: 'Many congratulations to Hiranya on this remarkable achievement. We are particularly thrilled that two Murray Edwards/New Hall alumnae are Honorary International Members of the Academy: Hiranya and Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell.'

The latest members elected alongside Hiranya include the actor Jodie Foster, computer scientist Shwetak Patel, neurobiologist Doris Tsao and author Barbara Kingsolver.

Academy President Laurie Patton said: ‘We celebrate the achievement of each new member and the collective breadth and depth of their excellence – this is a fitting commemoration of the nation’s 250th anniversary.

‘The founding of the nation and the Academy are rooted in the inextricable links between a vibrant democracy, the free pursuit of knowledge, and the expansion of the public good.’