President American Academy of Arts & Sciences | Cambridge, Massachusetts We are honored to have partnered with the American Academy of Arts and Sciences on the search for its next President. From a strong pool of candidates, Laurie Patton has been appointed to fill this important position, starting in January 2025. Patton was elected a member of the Academy in 2018.Patton, currently the President of Middlebury College, is a distinguished scholar of religion, an author or editor of ten books, a published poet, and a highly accomplished college and university leader. Under Patton’s leadership, Middlebury adopted a new strategic framework, invested in student engagement and well-being, increased financial aid and first-generation access, developed a multifaceted conflict resolution program that spans the curriculum, created a leading renewable energy plan as a model for higher education, increased international activity, and launched a record-breaking fundraising campaign.Prior to beginning her presidency at Middlebury in 2015, Patton served as dean of Duke University’s Trinity College of Arts and Sciences and as the Robert F. Durden Professor of Religion. In addition, she served as president of the American Society for the Study of Religion in 2011 and as president of the American Academy of Religion, made up of over nine thousand members, in 2019.The full press release announcing Patton’s appointment can be found here. Keight Tucker Kennedy and John Muckle led this search with Keith Mason and Alexis Scott.
