its democratic structure allowed all to join, from laypeople to professional scientists, clinicians, and engineers. For that reason, the membership has always included a mix of scientists, business people, academics, government workers, and members of the general public. Prominent members have included United States Presidents (Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe), as well as many notable scientists and scholars, including Asa Gray (who served as the superintendent of the academy starting in 1836), John James Audubon, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Louis Pasteur, Charles Darwin, Nicholas Tesla, Margaret Mead (who served for a time as the vice president of the academy), Rosalyn Yalow, Elizabeth Blackburn, and Jennifer Dudna. Prior to 1877, the academy only admitted men, but on November 5, 1877, it elected Erminnie A. Smith the first female member. Members, Honorary Members, Corresponding Members, and Fellows have included many renowned scientists—including dozens of Nobel Prize laureates over the over the years. Early Academy members played prominent roles in the establishment of New York University in 1831 and the American Museum of Natural History in 1869, and the New York Botanical Garden. The academy's programs and publications have contributed significantly to scientific discussions and progress over its history, including: in 1876, publishing one of the first studies on environmental pollution; conducting the first-of-its-kind scientific survey and publication The Scientific Survey of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, from 1907 to 1934; holding the first conference and publication of key papers on antibiotics in 1945–46; hosting a conference and publishing key papers on the cardiovascular effects of smoking in 1960 and on the effects of asbestos on human health in 1964–65; founding the Women in Science Committee in 1977; convening the world's first major scientific conference on AIDS in 1983–1984; and an early conference on SARS in 2003. More recent activities have included: annual meetings on machine learning; programs designed to reduce time and costs of Alzheimer's research; programs on the development of the brain from before birth through early childhood; convening the inaugural Summit on Science Enablement for the (United Nations) Sustainable Development Goals in 2017; and convening climate scientists and city planners, industry experts, policymakers, and representatives of NGOs for a conference marking the 10-year anniversary of a partnership between the New York City Panel on Climate Change, the City of New York, and Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. The journal published three volumes (in 2010, 2015,