Two Northwestern faculty elected to the American Philosophical Society

Two Northwestern University faculty members — Nobel Prize-winning economist Joel Mokyr and bioelectronics pioneer John A. Rogers — have been elected into the American Philosophical Society in recognition of extraordinary accomplishments in their fields.

Mokyr is a member of the social sciences class, and Rogers is a member of the mathematician and physical sciences class. They are among 33 resident members and nine international members elected this year to the prestigious society.

Mokyr is the Robert H. Strotz Professor of Arts and Sciences and professor of economics and history at Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.

Rogers is the Louis Simpson and Kimberly Querrey Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Neurological Surgery, with appointments in the McCormick School of Engineering and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He also is founding director of the Querrey Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics and the Querrey Simpson Institute for Translational Engineering for Advanced Medical Systems.

Founded by Benjamin Franklin, the American Philosophical Society strives toward its goal of “promoting useful knowledge” by electing scholars, scientists and professionals who make great strides in their respective fields. The oldest learned society in the U.S., it has 979 living members and has elected just 5,896 members since 1743.

Joel Mokyr

Joel Mokyr is one of the world’s leading experts on the economic history of Europe and the roots of technological change. Throughout his career, he has written 15 books focused on changes in technology and economic growth.

In 2025, Mokyr received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences — sharing the award with Philippe Aghion of the Collège de France and Northwestern alumnus Peter Howitt of Brown University — for explaining how technological advancements make sustained economic growth possible.

His books include “The Lever of Riches: Technological Creativity and Economic Progress” (1990), a sweeping analysis of how Western economies can maintain, and developing nations can unlock, their creative potential, “The Gifts of Athena” (2002) and “The Enlightened Economy” (2009). His most recent book, “Two Paths to Prosperity: Culture and Institutions in China and Europe, 1000-2000,” (2025), co-authored with alumnus Avner Greif, focuses on the long-run cultural changes in the two civilizations that determined their very different economic trajectories across the ages.

Mokyr is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Econometric Society, the British Academy, the Italian Accademia dei Lincei and the Dutch Royal Academy of Sciences. He was named a Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association in 2018 and awarded Clarivate’s Citation Laureate™ distinction in 2021. In 2015, Mokyr received the prestigious International Balzan Prize for his groundbreaking work on the economic history of Europe and roots of technological change, and the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences’ biennial Heineken Award for History in 2006. Mokyr has served as co-editor of the Journal of Economic History and is currently the editor-in-chief of the Princeton University Press series, “Economic History of the Western World.”

John A. Rogers

John A. Rogers is a world leader in flexible, wearable electronics and bioelectronic medicine. His interdisciplinary research combines expertise from nearly every traditional field of study in science and engineering, with outcomes that have changed the way people think about consumer and medical devices. He is internationally renowned for developing methods for transforming brittle, rigid electronic systems into soft, flexible devices that bend, stretch and twist with the human body.

After discovering that nanoscale forms of silicon can dissolve in water, Rogers and his team created a new class of technology called “transient electronics.” These devices harmlessly disappear in the body or the natural environment after no longer needed, creating new opportunities for dissolvable implants and sustainable electronics, respectively. Examples include dissolving nerve stimulators, pain relievers and temporary pacemakers. Rogers’ other devices include soft, wireless monitoring devices for premature babies; non-invasive sensors that track fluid flow through ventricular shunts for treating hydrocephalus; skin-integrated microfluidic systems for analyzing biomarkers in sweat; wireless, battery-free devices for measuring personalized exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet light; wearable haptics devices that mimic the complexity of human touch; an ultrathin robotic probe for monitoring fetal health during surgery; and the first wearable device capable of measuring gases emitted from and absorbed by the skin.

Among Rogers’ many awards, he has received a MacArthur “genius grant,” a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Benjamin Franklin Medal and the Royal Society’s Bakerian Medal. He’s also a member of The Royal Society, the National Academy of Science, the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine.

Rogers has authored more than 1,000 scientific publications, which have garnered more than 250,000 citations, placing him among the most highly cited engineers in the world. He also holds more than 100 U.S. patents and has founded several successful startup companies. A dedicated mentor, Rogers also has advised nearly 100 Ph.D. students and more than 200 postdoctoral fellows, approximately 170 of whom now hold tenure-line academic positions at some of the most prestigious research universities around the globe. Hundreds of undergraduate students have also experienced research in his labs. To honor this work, Rogers received the Monie A. Ferst Award from the Sigma Xi organization for “notable contributions to the motivation and encouragement of research through education.”