Prof. Tetlock Becomes Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellow

Haas School Professor Philip Tetlock is one of four UC Berkeley faculty members to be named to the 2009 class of fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Tetlock, who holds the Haas School's Lorraine Tyson Mitchell Chair II in Leadership and Communication, joins one of the nation's most prestigious honorary societies and its center for independent policy research. The professors from Berkeley who also are receiving this honor are Mary Elizabeth Berry, Dean's Professor of East Asian History and chair of UC Berkeley's History Department; Steven Gwon Sheng Louie, professor of physics; and Dan Slobin, professor emeritus in psychology and linguistics.

A total of 210 new fellows and 19 foreign honorary members were named this year. Fellows are nominated and elected to the academy by current members.

"These remarkable men and women have made singular contributions to their fields, and to the world," says Academy President Emilio Bizzi. "By electing them as members, the academy honors them and their work, and they, in turn, honor us."

Tetlock is the author of the book Expert Political Judgment: How Good Is It? How Can We Know? In the book, Tetlock documents the results of a 20-year study of 27,000 predictions by 284 political experts, finding that a great many political forecasts turned out to be inaccurate. All political "experts" who make forecasts need to receive more training, do more research, and be held publicly accountable for their advice, Tetlock argues in the 2005 book.

Tetlock, who holds a PhD in psychology from Yale, is a member of the Haas School's Organizational Behavior and Industrial Relations Group. He and the other new academy members will be formally inducted in October.

In addition to Tetlock, four other Haas faculty members are members of the Academy of Arts and Sciences: Laura Tyson, the S. K. and Angela Chan Professor of Global Management; Professor Hal Varian; Oliver Williamson, professor emeritus and professor of the Graduate School; and Janet Yellen, professor emeritus and current CEO of the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank.

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