The American Academy of Arts & Sciences(AAAS) announced the election of 261 new members on April 28, including 224 American academicians and 37 foreign ones.Shuicheng Li, a professor of the School of Archaeology and Museology of Sichuan University, was elected to the Academy, becoming the first foreign academician from Sichuan University and the second academician of the Chinese Mainland in the field of Archaeology and Museology after Ling Li was elected in 2016.

“The American Academy of Arts & Sciences, founded in 1780, is both an honorary society that recognizes and celebrates the excellence of its members and an independent research center convening leaders from across disciplines, professions, and perspectives to address significant challenges.” (amacad.org)

Since its establishment, more than 13,500 people from all walks of life have been elected to the Academy,including Albert Einstein, Winston Churchill,Martin Luther King, Jr., Stephen Hawking, and so on.In recent years, the number of Chinese scientists elected to the Academy has greatly increased, including Yigong Shi, Ning Yan and Ling Li. The election of Shuicheng Li will significantly boost SCU’s prestige and international influence.

Prof. Shuicheng Li (on the right)

Being engaged in field archaeology, Chinese archaeology, Eurasian grassland archaeology and archaeological theory for a long time, Shuicheng Li has made important contributions in many fields, such as cultural exchanges between China and the west, prehistoric Bronze Age Archaeology in Northwest China, salt archaeology, environmental archaeology, agricultural origin and so on. His many monographs include titles such as  “The Study of Painted Pottery in Banshan and Machang, Ancient Chinese Pottery,Yao-wu-yang-wei: a Sudy of the Origin and Development of the Scepter, The Spread of East Wind to the West: the Development Course of Prehistoric Culture in Northwest China, and so forth.