April 2025

Meetings of the American Philosophical Society are held each April and November for elected Members, their families, and distinguished guests. Most sessions are live streamed. 

This schedule is tentative and subject to change.

Wednesday, April 23, 2025

Benjamin Franklin Hall

1:00 p.m. 
Opening Remarks

Induction of Members attending their first Meeting

New Bio-inspired Materials: When Biology Meets Chemistry, Physics, Engineering, and Design
Joanna Aizenberg
Harvard University

The Case for Curiosity-Driven Research: New Treatments for Cancer and Anemia Emerging from Studies of an Obscure Hereditary Cancer Syndrome
William Kaelin, Jr., M.D.

Intermission

Seeing Others: How Recognition Works and How it Can Help Heal a Divided World
Professor Michèle Lamont 

The APS and the Pursuit of Happiness
Jeffrey Rosen
President & CEO, National Constitution Center

4:30 p.m. 
Philosophical Hall
Meeting of the Society’s Council

4:30 p.m. 
Library Hall
Tour of the Library Collections

Thursday, April 24, 2025

Benjamin Franklin Hall

9:00 a.m.

Induction of Members attending their first Meeting. 

State of the Society

Individual Specialization in a Generalist Apex Predator: The Leopard Seal
Emily S. Sperou, Ph.D.

Postcolonial Provenance Research, Transcultural Cooperations and Restitution Practices—Lessons Learnt from the Humboldt Forum
Prof. Dr. Hermann Parzinger
President, Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, Berlin

Intermission

Do Children Have Ideas? 
Susan Engel

Behind Their Screens: Reframing the Current Conversation on Teens and Tech 
Carrie James
Co-Director, Center for Digital Thriving & Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Lunch

Title to be announced
Eddie Glaude

Award Ceremony

Title to be announced
Barbara Wold

Intermission

Concert
Raman Ramakrishnan (cellist) and 
Benjamin Hochman (pianist) 

Friday, April 25, 2025

Benjamin Franklin Hall

9:00 a.m.

Panel on Historically Black Colleges and Universities
Ben Vinson
Beverly Tatum

What Scientists and Policymakers Can Learn from the Input that Meteorologists Gave General Eisenhower
Paul Romer
University Professor, Boston College

Intermission

Female Genius: Eliza Harriot and George Washington at the Dawn of the Constitution
Mary Sarah Bilder

Title to be announced
Jim Gates

Lunch

Philosophical Hall
Museum Gallery Conversation with Museum Staff

Benjamin Franklin Hall
Bus departures at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. for Philadelphia International Airport