Professor Emeritus Martin Boykan (MUS) will be inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters at its annual awards and inductions ceremony in mid-May, according to a press release from the Academy. According to its website, the Academy, which was founded in 1898, consists of 250 members. Membership is lifelong, and new members are inducted only upon the death of another member.

The 250 members are divided among the branches of Art, Literature and Music.

The purpose of the Academy is to foster interest in the three areas of Art, Literature and Music. According to its website, this is accomplished by "administering awards and prizes, exhibiting art and manuscripts, funding stage readings and performances of new works, and purchasing works of art to be donated to museums." Members nominate candidates and vote to determine which artists will receive the awards according to the website.

Boykan said that he has been accepted into the Music Department. In a phone interview with the Justice, Boykan said that he "was pleased" upon receiving the news of his induction into the Academy.

"I look forward to meeting some people in the other arts, . some of whom I admire and I haven't met," he said.

According to the Brandeis Faculty Guide website, Boykan received the Academy's Recording Award in 1986 and the Academy's Walter Hinrichsen Publication Award in 1988. The same website shows that he has also been the recipient of the Fulbright Fellowship, the McDowell Fellowship and the Guggenheim Fellowship. According to his official website, in 1956, at the beginning of his 54 years at Brandeis, Boykan founded the Brandeis Chamber Ensemble. Additionally, from 1964 to 1965, he was the official pianist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In a phone interview with the Justice, Professor Emeritus Yehudi Wyner (MUS) said that Boykan has composed a "vast catalogue [of musical pieces] of highest quality of workmanship, craftsmanship and elegance," including chamber music and pieces for solo instruments and for orchestra.

As stated on the Academy's website, new members are nominated and elected by other Academy members. Due to the organization's exclusivity, acceptance into the Academy is an "extraordinary honor," said Wyner, who was inducted into the Academy in 1999. For Boykan, Wyner continued, this induction is "a badge of recognition and support and admiration from the highest level of his colleagues in all disciplines throughout the United States."

"This is something long overdue," said Wyner. "[Boykan] has deserved . this honor for very many years."

When asked about his future plans, Boykan said that he will continue to compose. "For me, music has been my life all my life, and I am happy to have had the opportunity, to have had the time, to write music, . and I think that's really what matters most," he said.