Professor Michael Tomasello selected as new member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences has elected Michael Tomasello, James F. Bonk professor of psychology and neuroscience, to its ranks.

A 1972 Trinity College graduate, Tomasello co-directs the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany in addition to this role at Duke. His research focuses on social cognition and shared intentionality, or how humans cooperate to achieve their goals. He is also in charge of the Tomasello Lab at Duke, which studies what makes humans unique as a species.

"It was a complete surprise," Tomasello said about being notified he had been named to the AAAS. "I had no idea."

Being inducted into the AAAS—which recognizes achievements in the humanities, natural sciences, arts and social sciences—is not Tomasello's only honor. He has won awards from the American Psychological Association as well as from the British Academy. Tomasello is also the founding associate editor of the Developmental Science journal and has published two books on human communication and cooperation.

"For most of my career, I've done comparisons between chimpanzees and children and looking at children's development using chimpanzees as a starting point," he said. "It's an evolutionary approach to human development."

He will be formally inducted Oct. 7 into the AAAS in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

Editor's note: This article was updated at 4:30 p.m. Thursday to include quotes from Tomasello.