Ben Weiss elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Robert R. Shrock Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences Ben Weiss is one of four MIT faculty members elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the academy announced April 22. Thirteen additional MIT alumni were also honored among the roughly 250 leaders from academia, the arts, industry, public policy and research that were elected this year.
One of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies, the academy is also a leading center for independent policy research. Members contribute to academy publications, as well as studies of science and technology policy, energy and global security, social policy and American institutions, the humanities and culture, and education.
A specialist in magnetometry, Weiss seeks to understand the formation and evolution of the Earth, terrestrial planets, and small solar system bodies through laboratory analysis, spacecraft observations, and fieldwork. He is known for key insights into the history of our solar system, including discoveries about the early nebular magnetic field, the Moon’s long-lived core dynamo, and asteroids that generated core dynamos in the past. In addition to leadership roles on current, active NASA missions — as deputy principal investigator for Psyche, and co-investigator for Mars Perseverance and Europa Clipper — Weiss has also been part of science teams for the SpaceIL Beresheet, JAXA Hayabusa 2, and ESA Rosetta spacecraft. He also directs the MIT Planetary Magnetism Laboratory, which develops and applies high sensitivity, high resolution techniques to analyze the magnetization in rock samples collected from asteroids, the Moon, and Earth.
The other faculty elected from MIT in 2026 are:
- Isaiah Andrews PhD ’14, Charles E. and Susan T. Harris Professor of Economics;
- David Atkin, Barton L. Weller (1940) Professor of Economics; and
- Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics
MIT alumni elected this year include Mark Aguiar PhD ’99 (Economics); Mark G. Allen SM ’86, PhD ’89 (Chemical Engineering); Magdalena Balazinska PhD ’06 (EECS); Keren Bergman SM ’91, PhD ’94 (EECS); Sara Cherry PhD ’00 (Biology); Cynthia J. Ebinger SM ’86, PhD ’88 (EAPS); Charles L. Epstein ’78 (Mathematics); Shanhui Fan PhD ’97 (Physics); Atif Mian ’96, PhD ’01 (Mathematics with Computer Science and Economics); Sarah E. O’Connor PhD ’01 (Chemistry); Darryll J. Pines SM ’88, PhD ’92 (Mechanical Engineering); Phillip (Terry) Ragon ’72 (Physics); and Mansour Shayegan ’79, EE ’81, SM ’81, PhD ’83 (Electrical Engineering).
“We celebrate the achievement of each new member and the collective breadth and depth of their excellence – this is a fitting commemoration of the nation’s 250th anniversary,” said Academy President Laurie Patton.
Since its founding in 1780, the academy has elected leading thinkers from each generation, including George Washington and Benjamin Franklin in the 18th century, Maria Mitchell and Daniel Webster in the 19th century, and Toni Morrison and Albert Einstein in the 20th century. The current membership includes more than 250 Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners.
