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Yanqin Wu, a professor in the Faculty of Arts & Science's David A. Dunlap Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, has been named an international honorary member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

Founded in 1780, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences is among the oldest scholarly societies in North America and its members rank among the world’s most accomplished scientists, scholars and artists. Wu is in recognition of their excellence in their respective fields and invited to uphold the academy's mission of promoting engagement across disciplines.

Wu studies the interiors of planets, the structure of proto-planetary discs and circumstellar dusty debris discs, the organization of planetary systems and the formation history of moons and satellites in the solar system. She is also exploring the evolution of the Kuiper Belt – a region of the solar system beyond the orbit of Neptune, believed to contain many comets, asteroids and other small bodies made largely of frozen gases.

“It is a definite honour, though there are many other scientists whom I consider equally or more deserving,” she says. “So this is more of a motivator for continuing the pursuit, and hopefully this helps me to attract good students and post-docs. Also, I’m interested in raising science literacy in society at large, so maybe this title will help a bit in that.”