UIC professor, author elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Acclaimed writer and University of Illinois Chicago professor Luis Alberto Urrea has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation's oldest and most prestigious honorary societies.

Urrea, distinguished professor of creative writing in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, is among 252 leaders in academia, the arts, industry, journalism, philanthropy, policy, research and science elected in 2026.  He is the eighth UIC faculty member elected to the academy, which was founded in 1780 by John Adams, John Hancock and others "to gather knowledge and advance learning in service to the public good."

A deeply honored Urrea reflected on the unexpected recognition and its profound meaning for him.

"I am deeply thankful to the academy for the work it does to hold the humanities in such a light, and I am grateful to be even a small part of this historic institution," he said.

Urrea, a Guggenheim Fellow and Pulitzer Prize finalist, is the author of 19 books. He has won numerous awards for his poetry, fiction and essays. His 2023 novel, "Good Night, Irene," based on his mother's Red Cross service to troops on the frontlines of World War II, was a New York Times bestseller. His latest novel, "The Zebras of Tijuana," is forthcoming from Little, Brown and Company.

"The Devil's Highway," Urrea's 2004 nonfiction account of a group of Mexican immigrants lost in the Arizona desert, won the Lannan Literary Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the Pacific Rim Kiriyama Prize.

His novel, "The House of Broken Angels," was a 2018 finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. He won an American Academy of Arts and Letters Fiction award in 2017 for his collection of short stories, "The Water Museum," which was a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award. Urrea's novel "Into the Beautiful North" was a Big Read selection of the National Endowment for the Arts.

"We celebrate the achievement of each new member and the collective breadth and depth of their excellence. This is a fitting commemoration of the nation's 250th anniversary," said Laurie Patton, president of the academy. "The founding of the nation and the academy are rooted in the inextricable links between a vibrant democracy, the free pursuit of knowledge and the expansion of the public good."

Induction ceremonies for Urrea and other new members will take place in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in October 2026. A complete list of new members elected to the academy in 2026 is available on its website.