Two Smith College Alums Elected to Prestigious American Academy of Arts & Sciences

Two Smith College alums—author and feminist icon Gloria Steinem ’56 and lawyer and civil rights advocate Deborah N. Archer ’93—are among the nearly 250 outstanding individuals elected this year to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the country’s most distinguished honorary societies. Both Steinem and Archer have committed their lives to advancing equality and social justice.

Archer, a Smith trustee, and Steinem join a distinguished group of Smith faculty, alums, and former presidents who are members of the academy. Among them are culinary icon Julia Child ’34, educator Adelaide Cromwell ’40, legal scholar Catharine MacKinnon ’69, curator Thelma Golden ’87, English professor Michael Gorra, Africana studies professor Paula J. Giddings, and Smith presidents Jill Ker Conway, Mary Maples Dunn, Ruth J. Simmons, Carol T. Christ, and Kathleen McCartney.

Steinem rose to prominence in the 1960s as a leading voice in the feminist movement and as a social and political activist and advocate for women’s rights. Over the past six decades, she has written numerous articles and books, lectured globally, and co-founded Ms. magazine and the Women’s Media Center.

Archer, who was recently on campus to deliver a Presidential Colloquium, is a leading expert in civil rights, civil liberties, and racial justice. She is president of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)—the first person of color to serve in that position—and is also a professor of clinical law at New York University School of Law and faculty co-director of the Center on Race, Inequality and the Law.

Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences honors excellence across disciplines and brings together leaders from academia, the arts, policy, and science to address society’s most pressing issues.