Hungarian professor elected to US academy

Budapest-based Central European University (CEU) has announced that University Professor Gábor Klaniczay, founding faculty of the Department of Medieval Studies, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Founded in 1780, the Academy honors exceptional scholars, leaders, artists, and innovators and engages them in sharing knowledge and addressing challenges facing the world.

"CEU rejoices in the honor accorded our colleague Gábor Klaniczay," CEU President and Rector Michael Ignatieff said. "The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is one of the world's oldest and most distinguished academic institutions. We are proud of this recognition of Professor Klaniczay's extraordinary contribution to the study of history," he added.

Klaniczay is one of 213 individuals elected in 25 categories from 125 institutions. Perhaps, the best-known name on the list of new members is that of American actor Tom Hanks.

The Academy's projects and publications generate ideas and offer recommendations to advance the public good in the arts, citizenship, education, energy, government, the humanities, international relations, science, and more. The new class will be inducted at a ceremony in October 2018 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and join the Academy members who came before them, including such well-known personalities as Benjamin Franklin (elected in 1781), Alexander Hamilton (1791), Charles Darwin (1874), Albert Einstein (1924), Robert Frost (1931), Milton Friedman (1959) and Martin Luther King, Jr. (1966).