Guido Imbens, an Amazon academic research consultant and professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business who was one of three recipients of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Economics, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Alberto Abadie, an academic research consultant who is a professor of economics and associate director of the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society at MIT, was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Imbens was recognized as part of a new group of 120 NAS members and 30 international members “in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.”
Abadie joins 260 other new American Academy members, continuing “a tradition of recognizing accomplishments and leadership in academia, the arts, industry, public policy, and research.”.
Founded in 1780 by John Adams, John Hancock, and others, the American Academy “is both an honorary society that recognizes and celebrates the excellence of its members and an independent research center convening leaders from across disciplines, professions, and perspectives to address significant challenges.” The academy’s mission is to “cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people.”
The NAS is a nonprofit institution established under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It recognizes achievement in science by election to membership and, along with the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine, provides science, engineering, and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations. With this year’s class, the NAS now has 2,512 active members, and 517 international members. International members are nonvoting members, with citizenship outside the United States.
Imbens said he is humbled to be elected to the NAS.
"I am honored to be joining such a group of distinguished scientists, including multiple Amazonians,” he said. “I hope to be able to support the role NAS plays in providing the government and public with advice based on sound science.''
Abadie said he is similarly honored by his selection to the American Academy.
"I am honored and excited to help advance the mission and values of the AAA&S through my work in academia and in my collaborations with the very talented scientists and engineers of Amazon Core AI."
