Three from Johns Hopkins elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Three Johns Hopkins professors from the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences—Lucy Allais, Jenann Ismael, and Martha Jones—have been selected to join the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Image caption: From left, Lucy Allais, Jenann Ismael, and Martha Jones

Founded in 1780 by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, and others, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences is one of the oldest learned societies in the U.S. Membership in the academy is considered a career honor and recognizes individuals for their excellence in academia, the arts, industry, policy, research, and science.

They are among nearly 250 individuals selected for membership this year. Induction ceremonies for new members will take place in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in October 2025.

Lucy Allais, selected in the philosophy category, is a professor in the Department of Philosophy. Her research interests include the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, as well as forgiveness, punishment, and bioethics. She co-edited Kant and Animals (2020, Oxford University Press) and authored Manifest Reality: Kant's Idealism and his Realism (2015, Oxford University Press).

Jenann Ismael, also selected in the philosophy category, is a professor in the Department of Philosophy. Her research focuses on the philosophy of physics and metaphysics, especially areas involving the structure of space and time, quantum mechanics, and the foundations of physical laws. She has published four books: Time: A Very Short Introduction (2021, Oxford University Press), How Physics Makes Us Free (2016, Oxford University Press), The Situated Self (2007, Oxford University Press), and Essays on Symmetry (2001, Garland Press).

Martha Jones, selected in the history category, is a professor in the Department of History, a professor at the SNF Agora Institute, and the history department's Director of Graduate Studies. Her research interests lie in race and rights in the 19th century U.S., with an emphasis on slavery, law, gender, and visual culture. Her books include The Trouble of Color: An American Family Memoir (2025, Basic Books), Vanguard (2020, Basic Books), Birthright Citizens: A History of Race and Rights in Antebellum America (2018, Cambridge University Press), and All Bound Up Together: The Woman Question in African American Public Culture, 1830-1900 (2007, University of North Carolina Press). She also co-edited Toward an Intellectual History of Black Women (2015, University of North Carolina Press).