This year's class of American Academy of Arts and Sciences fellows includes four Cornell faculty members in disciplines ranging from music to international relations.

They are: Valerie Jean Bunce, the Aaron L. Binenkorb Professor of International Studies and professor of government; Theodore Eisenberg, the Henry Allen Mark Professor of Law; Ronald R. Hoy, the David and Dorothy Merksamer Professor of Biological Sciences; and Roberto Sierra, the Old Dominion Foundation Professor in the Humanities and chair of the Department of Music.

They join 225 other new members, who will be inducted at a ceremony Oct. 9 in Cambridge, Mass.

Bunce studies comparative politics and international relations in East-Central Europe, the Balkans, Soviet successor states and Latin America. Her research and teaching address comparative democratization, international democracy promotion (primarily by the United States); and inter-ethnic cooperation and conflict.

Eisenberg, an authority in empirical analysis in legal scholarship, studies bankruptcy, civil rights and the death penalty. He uses innovative statistical methods to examine punitive damages, victim impact evidence, capital juries, bias for and against litigants, and chances of success on appeal.

Hoy studies acoustic communication in insects from several disciplines and the visual system of various species of flies, particularly those that also use hearing to direct their flight course. His broader aim is use his knowledge of insect "models" to gain insights into the communication systems of mammals and humans.

Sierra teaches composition and was director of undergraduate studies before becoming music department chair. His research interests include theory, orchestration and analysis. His "Missa Latina Pro Pace," a work for orchestra, full choir and vocal soloists, was nominated for a 2010 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition, and he received the 2003 Academy Award in music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Founded in 1780 by John Adams and other founders of the nation, the academy is one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious honorary societies and independent policy research centers.

A complete list of the 2010 class of new members is located at: http://www.amacad.org/news/a2z10.pdf.