Monday, October 3, 2011

MD Anderson President Ronald DePinho, M.D. was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences over the weekend, along with Ernie Cockrell, immediate past chairman of the Board of Visitors; and Francisco Cigarroa, M.D., UT System chancellor.

They were among 178 influential scientists, scholars, authors, artists and institutional leaders to join the academy at a ceremony in Cambridge, Mass. Other luminaries on the list included veteran diplomat Edward Djerejian of the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University; novelist Oscar Hijuelos; singer-songwriter Paul Simon; and Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots and The Kraft Group.

Founded in 1780 by John Adams, John Hancock and other scholar-patriots, the academy's membership includes more than 250 Nobel laureates, some 100 Pulitzer Prize winners, and many of the world's most celebrated artists and performers.