Submitted by Matthew Bothwell on Mon, 27/04/2026 - 16:25
The Institute of Astronomy is pleased to congratulate Professor Hiranya Peiris on her election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the oldest and most prestigious learned societies in the United States. Induction ceremonies for the 2026 class will take place in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in October 2026.
The Academy elects members across thirty-one sections organised within five classes, spanning the mathematical and physical sciences, biological sciences, social and behavioural sciences, humanities, and a range of fields including arts, journalism, business, and public policy. Election is initiated exclusively by existing members, and the honour is widely regarded as recognition of sustained excellence and influence within a field. The 2026 cohort comprises 252 new members recognised for their excellence, innovation, leadership, and breadth of accomplishment.
Professor Hiranya Peiris holds the Professorship of Astrophysics (1909) at the Institute of Astronomy and is also a member of the Kavli Institute for Cosmology, Cambridge. Her research is centred on extracting fundamental physics from cosmological data, and she has led analyses of survey data from multiple major international facilities while making substantial contributions to theoretical cosmology and statistical astronomy.
This work spans the cosmic microwave background, galaxy evolution and stellar dynamics, and interdisciplinary collaborations at the interface of cosmology with particle physics and condensed matter physics. She played a central role in the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) collaboration, which received the Gruber Cosmology Prize in 2012 for its measurements of the relic radiation from the Big Bang, and the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics in 2018 for producing detailed maps of the early universe. Further recognition includes the Institute of Physics Fred Hoyle Medal and Prize in 2018 and the Eddington Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 2021.
Professor Peiris said "I am deeply honoured to be elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. I am especially delighted to be a member of an institution founded on the conviction that the arts and sciences belong together. I began my career studying the oldest light in the universe, and my subsequent path led in unexpected directions and across disciplinary boundaries that, to me, never felt real. The most rewarding part of that journey has been the people I've shared it with: the students, postdocs, and collaborators who chose to explore the unmapped territory between fields alongside me. This honour belongs to them as much as to me."
She joins fellow Cambridge astronomers Lord Rees and Professor Malcolm Perry in the Academy, alongside Cambridge alumna Dame Jocelyn Bell-Burnell.
Her election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences is a fitting addition to a distinguished record of international recognition, and everyone at the IoA extends our warmest congratulations.