Maya Ajmera '89, president and CEO of Society for Science and executive publisher of Science News was recently inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Ajmera was elected in 2022, with 269 other accomplished individuals, drawn from academia, the arts, industry, policy, research and science, and include more than 40 International Honorary Members from 23 countries. The official induction ceremony took place in Washington D.C. in September.
“I am so honored to be inducted into American Academy of Arts and Sciences with such luminary individuals,” said Ajmera, who majored in biology and minored in women's studies at Bryn Mawr. “I look forward to working with the Academy members to address some of the most pressing issues facing our world.”
Prior to joining Society for Science, Ajmera founded the Global Fund for Children (GFC), a nonprofit a nonprofit organization that invests in innovative, community-based organizations working with some of the world’s most vulnerable children and youth. Under Ajmera’s 18 years of leadership, GFC grew from a vision into one of the largest networks of grassroots organizations working on behalf of vulnerable children.
Ajmera served as the inaugural Social Entrepreneur in Residence for Duke University and a visiting professor for the Practice of Public Policy at The Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke. She was a visiting scholar and professorial lecturer at The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University and continues to serve as an adjunct on the faculty of the International Development Program
She is also an award-winning children’s book author of more than 20 titles, including Back to School, Every Breath We Take, Children from Australia to Zimbabwe and To Be a Kid, with more than five million readers worldwide.
Ajmera is the recipient of the 2020 National Science Board Public Service Award, recognized for her tremendous contribution to increasing the public’s understanding of science and engineering. She is also a recipient of the Henry Crown Fellowship at the Aspen Institute, the Echoing Green Fellowship, the William C. Friday Fellowship for Human Relations and the Rotary International Graduate Fellowship.
Ajmera is a board member for Echoing Green, Kids in Need of Defense, Sibley Memorial Hospital/Johns Hopkins Medicine and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics Foundation. She holds an A.B. from Bryn Mawr College and an M.P.P. from The Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University.