USC faculty member Midori Goto and
USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism dean Ernest J. Wilson
III have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of
the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies.
“Dean Wilson and Distinguished
Professor Midori continue to advance their respective fields with innovative,
interdisciplinary approaches to ways of communicating – through new mediums of
technology and through the beauty of a musical composition,” said USC provost
and senior vice president for academic affairs Elizabeth Garrett. “Their work
and dedication reflect the values of our academic community, and their election
into this venerated academy celebrates great scholarship of consequence.”
Since her debut as a violinist with
the New York Philharmonic at the age of 11, Goto, holder of the Jascha Heifetz
Chair in Violin at the USC Thornton School of Music, has established a
record of achievement that sets her apart as a master musician, an innovator
and a champion of the developmental potential of children.
In 1992 she founded Midori &
Friends, a nonprofit organization in New York that brings music education
programs to thousands of underprivileged children each year. Two other
organizations, Music Sharing, based in Japan, and Partners in Performance, based
in the United States, also bring music closer to the lives of people who may
not otherwise have involvement with the arts.
Named a Messenger of Peace by U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2007, Goto has created a new model for young
artists who seek to balance the joys and demands of a performing career at the
highest level with a hands-on investment in the power of music to change lives.
Her performing schedule is balanced
between recitals, chamber music performances and appearances with the world’s
most prestigious orchestras. Her 2011-12 season includes tours of the United
States, Europe and Asia, as well as recitals and master classes.
“I am surprised and deeply honored
to have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and to be
part of such a distinguished body of extraordinary achievers in the
humanities,” Goto said. “This serves to inspire in me an even greater
commitment to my work in education and community engagement – two of the
greatest sources of joy in my life.”
Wilson is dean of the USC
Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and holder of the Walter
Annenberg Chair in Communication. Wilson’s experience at the intersection of
communication and public policy spans the private and public sectors. He has
served as a consultant to the World Bank and the United Nations, led research
centers and academic departments at premier institutions of higher education,
such as the University of Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania, and
worked in government at the White House National Security Council and the U.S.
Information Agency. He also advised President Barack Obama’s transition team on
matters of communication technology and public diplomacy.
Nominated by President Bill Clinton
in 2000, Wilson served on the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
from 2000 to 2010, the last year as chairman. He is a member of the
Carnegie-Knight Commission on the Future of Journalism Education and The
National Academies Board on Research Data and Information.
Wilson’s academic focus is on the
convergence of communication and information technology, public policy and the
public interest. His current work concentrates on China-Africa relations,
global sustainable innovation in high-technology industries, and the role of
politics in the diffusion of information and communication technologies.
“I am deeply honored and humbled to
be elected to the Academy of Arts and Sciences,” Wilson said. “With its
remarkable history and mission to solve complex and emerging social problems,
the Academy is a testament to the power of collaborative thinking across the
arts and sciences. I am delighted to be included in the company of so many
distinguished, multidisciplinary scholars and leaders, and I look forward to
contributing to the advancement of the Academy’s goals.”
Since its founding in 1780, the
Academy has elected leading “thinkers and doers” from each generation,
including George Washington and Benjamin Franklin in the 18th
century, Daniel Webster and Ralph Waldo Emerson in the 19th, and
Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill in the 20th. The current
membership includes more than 250 Nobel laureates and more than 60 Pulitzer
Prize winners.
With the election of this year’s
class, the number of living fellows from the USC faculty is 27, in addition to
five members from the USC Board of Trustees.
“Election to the Academy is both an
honor for extraordinary accomplishment and a call to serve,” said American
Academy of Arts and Sciences president Leslie C. Berlowitz. “We look
forward to drawing on the knowledge and expertise of these distinguished men
and women to advance solutions to the pressing policy challenges of the day.”
The new class will be inducted at a ceremony on
Oct. 6, at the Academy’s headquarters in Cambridge, Mass.
