Anne Yoder is among four senior faculty members, and 252 people in total, to be elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences this year.
Founded in 1780, the Academy honors exceptional scholars, leaders, artists, and innovators and engages them in sharing knowledge and addressing challenges facing the world.
“We are honoring the excellence of these individuals, celebrating what they have achieved so far, and imagining what they will continue to accomplish,” said David Oxtoby, the President of the Academy. “The past year has been replete with evidence of how things can get worse; this is an opportunity to illuminate the importance of art, ideas, knowledge, and leadership that can make a better world.”
Dr. Yoder’s research is devoted to understanding how the myriad forces of climate, geography, genetics, and ecological interactions have converged to generate the unique and incredibly diverse biota of Madagascar. Her lab has a significant focus on capacity building through education and training of both American and Malagasy students. During her tenure as director of the Duke Lemur Center from 2006-2018, Yoder transformed the little-known conservation center into a jewel of Duke’s research environment focused on conservation, research and education.
Other Duke faculty elected to AAAS this year include L. Ebony Boulware, M.D., MPH, Sue Jinks-Robertson, Ph.D. and Dean Mary Klotman, M.D.