Four campus faculty members and one incoming department chair have been admitted as new fellows into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the academy announced Monday.

A total of 226 UC Berkeley faculty members, including the new inductees, have been elected to the academy since the university's founding in 1868.

Professors Mary Berry, Steven Louie, Dan Slobin and Philip Tetlock were recognized for their work in a wide variety of fields. The 212 fellows elected this year will now have lifetime memberships in the academy and will be inducted during ceremonies held in Cambridge, Massachusetts, next October.

According to Paul Karoff, chief communication officer at the academy, individuals are recognized and nominated by past fellows based on their work and accomplishments. About 1,000 people are nominated before an average of 200 are elected, he said.

The academy was created in 1780, and its founders include John Adams and John Hancock. Fellows hail from a wide variety of vocations and areas of interest. Past inductees include Bono and Nelson Mandela.

"It's a classy group," Berry said. "You want to be a part of it."

Berry is currently chair of the history department and is teaching East Asian history.

Another new fellow and a professor of physics, Louie, said he was pleasantly surprised when he heard the news Monday.

"It's always a great honor and a lot of pressure to get recognition from your peers," he said. "It's exceptionally nice."

Although Tetlock could not be reached for comment, he teaches leadership at the Haas School of Business while also serving as the Lorraine Tyson Mitchell Chair II in Leadership and Communication.

Matthew Tirrell, who is currently dean of the College of Engineering at UC Santa Barbara, was also elected to the academy. Tirrell will join the UC Berkeley campus in July as chair of the bioengineering department.

Like the majority of other fellows, Slobin, professor emeritus of linguistics and psychology, said he had no idea that he would be elected.

"I knew that I had been nominated last July and I never heard of it again so I thought I didn't get it," he said. "I'm still amazed by this news."

Tags: AMERICAN ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES