Interfaith America Founder and President Eboo Patel has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in the area of Leadership, Policy, and Communications, recognizing his excellence in nonprofit leadership and his dedication to pluralism. 

The Academy is both an honorary society that recognizes the excellence of its members and an independent research center convening leaders from across disciplines, professions, and perspectives to address significant challenges.

Founded in 1780, the Academy convenes leaders across disciplines to advance the public good. Since then, it has honored historic figures ranging from Benjamin Franklin and John Adams to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Margaret Mead. Patel joins a distinguished 2026 class of scholars, artists, public leaders and innovators recognized for their contributions to society. They include actor/director Jodie Foster, authors Barbara Kingsolver and Colson Whitehead, and University of South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley.

“We celebrate the achievement of each new member and the collective breadth and depth of their excellence – this is a fitting commemoration of the nation’s 250th anniversary,” said Laurie Patton, President of the Academy, in announcing the 252 inductees in the class of 2026. “The founding of the nation and the academy are rooted in the inextricable links between a vibrant democracy, the free pursuit of knowledge and the expansion of the public good.”

“I am deeply honored to be elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in this milestone year for the nation,” said Patel. “This honor is not just personal. It is a signal from one of the nation’s most revered institutions about the importance of nonprofit leadership that advances pluralism—the distinctly American intellectual tradition that views the nation as a diversity project where people from different identities cooperate together and, out of many, become a new whole.”

This election to the Academy comes less than a week after Patel was also awarded the George W. Bush Institute Citation, reflecting growing recognition across civic institutions that embracing the power of pluralism is essential to the health of the nation.

“America would literally be unrecognizable without the contributions of our diverse faith communities. This is pluralism—respect for diverse identities, relationships between different communities, cooperation with one another for the common good,” Patel said in his citation acceptance speech. “Presidents can set the North Star. We have to reach it.”