Michael Clune, a professor at the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society at The Ohio State University, has been invested as a member of the American Academy of Sciences and Letters. The honor is in recognition of Clune’s outstanding scholarly achievement.
A scholar of American literature and an author, Clune has written both scholarly works in leading academic presses as well as three fiction books, many of which have been placed on “best of the year” lists including those of Time, NPR and The Washington Post. His areas of expertise include American literature, creative writing, higher education reform, technology and culture, and aesthetics. In addition, he has received fellowships from the Guggenheim, Mellon and Baker Nord Foundations.
“Professor Clune exemplifies American academic life at its best: intellectually rigorous and publicly accessible,” said Lee Strang, executive director of the Chase Center. “His scholarship, published by leading university presses, provides the foundation for his public engagement across a remarkable range of subjects, from literature to artificial intelligence to higher education. He is also a generous colleague who gives freely of his time and talents to our community. This honor is richly deserved.”
Clune joined the Chase Center in the fall of 2025 after having served as the Knight Professor of Humanities at Case Western Reserve University.
“I feel honored to join an Academy devoted to the highest ideals of the liberal arts, and whose members include many scholars and scientists whose work I admire,” Clune said.
About the Chase Center
The Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society at The Ohio State University was established by the state of Ohio in 2023. It is dedicated to cultivating informed citizenship, fostering intellectual diversity and forming leaders for a free society. The Chase Center prepares students to live well in whatever path life takes them, while also doing well for Ohio and the United States, just like its namesake, Salmon P. Chase.
About the American Academy of Sciences and Letters
The American Academy of Sciences and Letters promotes scholarship and honors outstanding achievement in the arts, sciences, and learned professions. It supports learning by encouraging the exchange of ideas within academia and in society at large, and by sponsoring occasions for scholarly interaction and providing platforms for the presentation ad dissemination of scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, mathematics and engineering. A 501(c)(3) organization, the Academy provides public programming, supports promising young scholars, and promotes traditional liberal ideals.