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Last modified: Wednesday, April 21, 2010

IU's Dunn, Laredo among American Academy of Arts and Sciences' 2010 Class of Fellows

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 21, 2010

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The first dean of the nation's first School of Informatics and a Grammy-winning violinist and conductor will represent Indiana University as members of the 2010 Class of Fellows and Foreign Honorary Members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Jaime Laredo, IU Bloomington Jacobs School of Music's Linda and Jack Gill Chair in Violin, professor of music and conductor/music director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra, and J. Michael Dunn, professor emeritus of informatics, computer science and philosophy, and former dean of the IU School of Informatics, were among 229 leaders in the sciences, the social sciences, the humanities, the arts, business and public affairs elected members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Dunn, the Oscar R. Ewing Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, was a founding member of IU's Cognitive Science Program, founding dean of the IU School of Informatics and an early advocate of the role of personal computers on campus. He is the author of four books and more than 80 articles, and his research has been recognized by awards from Fulbright, National Endowment for the Humanities, American Council of Learned Societies and National Science Foundation. He has been a visitor at the University of Melbourne, Oxford University and various other universities.

A past president of the Society for Exact Philosophy and the Council of the Association for Symbolic Logic, Dunn also has served as an editor of The Journal of Symbolic Logic and chief editor of The Journal of Philosophical Logic. Dunn earned a doctorate in philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh, received his undergraduate degree from Oberlin College, and taught at Wayne State University and Yale University before coming to IU Bloomington.

"This is a richly-deserved personal recognition for Mike following decades of outstanding scholarship, teaching and administration at Indiana University," said Bobby Schnabel, dean of IU's School of Informatics. "The school and many of the people in it are here today due to Mike's vision and commitment to developing an internationally recognized center for the study of information technology, so to have the school's founding dean named to this elite body of world leaders in the arts and sciences is something we take great pride in."

Michael Dunn

J. Michael Dunn

Print-Quality Photo

Laredo joined the IU School of Music faculty in 2005 after more than 40 years in music as a solo violinist, conductor, recitalist and chamber musician. He made his orchestral debut at age 11 with the San Francisco Symphony, and at age 17 he became the youngest winner of the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Competition, launching his rise to international prominence.

As a conductor and soloist, Laredo has performed with the Detroit Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, New York String Orchestra, Virginia Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, the London Symphony, the BBC Symphony, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, the Royal Philharmonic and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

"Professor Laredo's accomplishments as a soloist, conductor, recitalist, and chamber musician have been recognized the world over," said Jacobs School of Music Dean Gwyn Richards. "Beloved in the musical realm, it is exciting and befitting now to see him named by one of the world's most prestigious honorary societies in the company of other revered scholars, scientists, writers, artists, and philanthropic leaders."

Laredo has amassed nearly 100 recordings, received the Deutsche Schallplatten Prize and earned seven Grammy Award nominations. He won the Grammy Award for "Best Chamber Music Performance" in 1971 for Brahms: Piano Quartets (Opp. 25 and 26), which he recorded with frequent chamber music collaborators Emanuel Ax, Isaac Stern and Yo-Yo Ma.

"We are pleased to welcome these distinguished individuals into the Academy," said Leslie Berlowitz, Chief Executive Officer and William T. Golden Chair. "We look forward to drawing on their knowledge and expertise to provide practical policy solutions to the pressing issues of the day."

"The men and women we elect today are true pathbreakers who have made unique contributions to their fields, and to the world," said Academy Chair Louis W. Cabot. "The Academy honors them and their work, and they, in turn, honor us."

Also among the 229 honorees were former IU biology professor Susan Strome, who is now at University of California Santa Cruz; Timothy Ley, who led the group that sequenced the first human cancer genome; Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Daniel Howe; Nobel laureate economist Myron Scholes; TIAA-CREF president and CEO Roger Ferguson Jr.; and actors John Lithgow and Denzel Washington.

The new class will be inducted at a ceremony on Oct. 9, at the Academy's headquarters in Cambridge, Mass. For a complete list of the 2010 class of new members visit: https://www.amacad.org/news/a2z10.pdf.

To speak with Dunn or Laredo, please contact Steve Chaplin, University Communications, at 812-856-1896 or stjchap@indiana.edu.