Cliff Brangwynne and Salvatore Torquato inducted into the American Academy of Sciences and Letters

Written by
Wright B. Señeres
Wendy Plump, Chemistry
Nov. 14, 2024

Princeton Materials Institute faculty Clifford Brangwynne and Salvatore Torquato have been inducted into one of the nation’s newest learned societies, the American Academy of Sciences and Letters. They are two of eight Princeton University inductees this year.

Brangwynne and Torquato joined the Academy in October at a ceremony held at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Brangwynne was recognized for his work on the fundamental principles underlying biological organization, with particular interest in condensates – also known as membrane-less organelles – within living cells. Torquato was recognized for his contributions to statistical mechanics and soft condensed matter theory.

Salvatore Torquato and Donald Landry

Salvatore Torquato with Donald Landry, president of the American Academy of Sciences and Letters.

Cliff Brangwynne and Donald Landry

Cliff Brangwynne with Donald Landry.

The American Academy of Sciences and Letters promotes scholarship and honors outstanding achievement in the arts and sciences. "Members of the Academy are scholars who have made extraordinary contributions in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, mathematics, engineering, the arts, and the learned professions,” according to an Academy press release.

Established in 2023, the Academy encourages the fruitful exchange of ideas within academia and society at large. It sponsors occasions for scholarly interaction and provides platforms for the presentation and dissemination of scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering. 

Brangwynne is the June K. Wu ’92 Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and inaugural director of the Omenn-Darling Bioengineering Institute at Princeton. Torquato is the Lewis Bernard Professor of Natural Sciences, Professor of Chemistry and the Princeton Materials Institute.