United States Naval Academy, at Annapolis, Md.; for training young men and women to be officers of the U.S. navy or marine corps. George Bancroft, Secretary of the Navy, founded and opened (1845) it as the Naval School at Annapolis. In 1850-51 the school was reorganized under the present title. During the Civil War it was moved to Newport, R.I., but was returned to Annapolis in 1865. Women have been admitted to the academy since 1976.

Candidates for admission must be between 17 and 22 years old and meet certain physical and educational qualifications. An applicant must obtain a nomination to be considered for an appointment. The following are the sources of nomination: the President of the United States; the Vice President; U.S. Senators and Representatives; and the representatives of the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories. Special appointment categories include children of deceased and disabled veterans or of military or civilian personnel who are prisoners of war or missing in action, foreign students, regular U.S. navy and marine corps, U.S. navy and marine corps reserve, honor graduates of military and naval schools and ROTC, and children of Medal of Honor recipients.

Approximately 4,000 midshipmen attend the academy; they receive full scholarships as well as a monthly allotment to pay for supplies, clothing, and personal expenses. The four-year course includes scientific and general studies as well as technical courses on naval subjects and practical work on cruises. Graduates receive a bachelor's degree and a commission as an ensign in the navy or as a second lieutenant in the marine corps. John Paul Jones is buried at the Naval Academy, which is a national historic site.

United States Military Academy, at West Point, N.Y.; for training young men and women to be officers in the U.S. army; founded and opened in 1802. The original act provided that the Corps of Engineers stationed at West Point should constitute a military academy, but the growing threat of war with England in 1812 resulted in congressional action to increase the corps and to expand the academy's facilities. Changes in curriculum and organization made by Sylvanus Thayer, superintendent from 1817 to 1833, earned him the title Father of the Military Academy. In the 19th cent. the military academy was one of the nation's major sources of civil engineers, and its graduates made excellent records in the Mexican War and especially in the Civil War. After 1866 the academy was no longer formally related to the Corps of Engineers. The academy is now under the general direction and supervision of the Dept. of the Army. Its enrollment has greatly expanded since its founding and at present is about 4,300 cadets. The curriculum, too, has been greatly modernized, notably under Douglas MacArthur, its superintendent from 1919 to 1922.

An applicant must obtain a nomination to be considered for an appointment to the academy. The sources of nomination are the President of the United States; the Vice President; U.S. Senators and Representatives; and the representatives of the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories. Special appointment categories include children of deceased and disabled veterans or of career military personnel, foreign students, regular U.S. army, U.S. army reserve, honor graduates of military and naval schools and ROTC, and children of Medal of Honor recipients. Candidates must be between the ages of 17 and 22 and must meet physical and educational qualifications.

Cadets undergo a four-year course of instruction on full scholarship, with summers devoted to practical military training, and are paid a monthly salary. Graduating cadets receive a bachelor's degree and a commission as a second lieutenant. Women have been admitted since 1975 and, in the 1990s, they constituted more than 10% of the academy's 4,000 cadets. The West Point Museum contains ordnance and military trophies of historical interest. It is one of the most important college museums in the United States. George W. Cullum compiled a valuable biographical register of West Point cadets.

United States Merchant Marine Academy, at Kings Point, N.Y.; for the training of merchant marine officers; established 1936, opened 1943. The academy became coeducational in 1974. Candidates must be between the ages of 17 and 22, be nominated for candidacy by their U.S. Representative or Senator, and pass a competitive examination. The four-year course, emphasizing maritime and naval specialties, includes tours of service aboard a merchant vessel. Midshipmen receive free tuition and room and board, as well as a monthly stipend for books, uniforms, and personal expenses. Upon graduation they receive a commission in the naval reserve as well as a merchant marine license.

United States Coast Guard Academy, at New London, Conn.; for training young men and women to be officers of the U.S. Coast Guard; established 1876, opened 1877 as United States Revenue Cutter Service School of Instruction, took its present name in 1915. The academy, differing from the other federal service academies, gains its candidates through a nationwide competition. There are no congressional appointments or geographical quotas. Each applicant must be between the ages of 17 and 22. A cadet's education consists of military and academic instruction, including professional training at sea. Cadets receive full scholarships to the academy as well as pay and allowances. Upon graduation they are appointed ensigns in the U.S. Coast Guard.

United States Air Force Academy, at Colorado Springs, Colo.; for training young men and women to be officers in the U.S. air force; authorized in 1954 by Congress. Temporary quarters were opened at the former Lowry Air Force Base at Denver in 1955, and the permanent campus opened in 1958. The academy began admitting women in 1975 and they now make up some 13% of the cadet corps.

Candidates must be between 17 and 22 years old and meet special physical and educational qualifications. An applicant must obtain a nomination to be considered for an appointment to the academy. The sources of nomination are the President of the United States; the Vice President; U.S. Senators and Representatives; and the representatives of the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories. Special appointment categories include children of deceased and disabled veterans or of career military personnel, foreign students, regular U.S. air force, U.S. air force reserve, honor graduates of military and naval schools and ROTC, and children of Medal of Honor recipients. Approximately 4,000 cadets are enrolled in the four-year course of instruction that leads to a bachelor's degree and a position of second lieutenant. The curriculum includes standard academic subjects as well as military training, flight instruction, and athletics. Cadets receive free tuition and room and board and a monthly allotment to pay for supplies, clothing, and personal expenses.

Royal Academy of Arts, London, the national academy of art of England, founded in 1768 by George III at the instigation of Sir William Chambers and Benjamin West. Sir Joshua Reynolds was the Academy's first president, holding the office until his death in 1792. His Discourses defined the scope of the Academy. The king himself chose the original 36 Academicians and fixed the number at 40. Until 1867 their successors were elected by the Academicians only and since that date by the Academicians and associates, whose number was increased from 20 to 30 in 1876, together. Since its inception the Academy, a notably conservative body, has maintained biennial exhibitions—one being of the works of masters of the past and one of contemporary art; has maintained a free school (women students have been admitted only since 1861); and has administered funds (partly derived from its exhibitions) for the relief of distressed artists and their families and for prizes and scholarships. In 1867 the academy was given a lease of 999 years on Burlington House and the adjoining gardens, where its galleries and school have since been erected.

Phillips Exeter Academy, at Exeter, N.H.; coeducational; chartered 1781, opened 1783 by John Phillips. It has been an influential preparatory school and has a notable school library. Heavily endowed (1931) by Edward S. Harkness, the school has a large campus and many fine buildings. Founded as a school for boys, it became coeducational in 1970.

Phillips Academy, at Andover, Mass.; college preparatory boarding and day school; opened 1778, chartered 1780 by Samuel Phillips. Founded for boys, it is the oldest incorporated academy in the United States and has served as the model for many later schools. In 1972 the academy became coeducational when Abbot Academy, a neighboring girls' school, was incorporated. The school is often called Andover or Phillips Andover. Andover Theological Seminary (now part of Andover Newton Theological School at Newton Centre, Mass.) was affiliated from 1808 to 1908. The Addison Gallery of American Art houses well-known collections.

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, established in 1805, incorporated in 1806. It is supported by private endowment. The academy grew out of a proposal by Charles Willson Peale for an art institution; this led to the founding of the Columbianum, which mounted in 1795 the first art exhibition in the United States. The academy was formed to supersede it, sponsored by 71 public-spirited Philadelphia citizens, among them Peale, Charles Biddle, William Rush, and George Clymer. The present building was constructed in 1876 to house the academy's art collection, which includes the Temple Collection of modern American paintings, the Gibson Collection of 19th-century European paintings, and the John Frederick Lewis Collection of early American paintings. The academy, affiliated with the oldest American art school, owns more than 2,000 works by American artists, one of the richest collections in the field.

National Academy of Sciences, with headquarters in Washington, D.C., a private organization of leading American scientists and engineers devoted to the furtherance of science and its use for the general welfare. The Academy was founded in 1863; there are presently about 2,000 members. Members are elected in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research. The Academy acts as an official adviser to the federal government on matters of science and technology. Separate sections of the Academy represent all of the physical and biological sciences and many of the social sciences. In 2004 the Academy added a science museum featuring exhibitions focused on topics of contemporary interest, e.g., global warming, gene sequencing.

French Academy (L'Académie française), learned society of France. It is one of the five societies of the Institut de France.

Development

The origins of the academy were in a coterie of literary men who met informally in Paris in the early 1630s to discuss rhetoric and criticism. Recognized by Cardinal Richelieu, the academy received the royal letters patent in 1635 (registered by the Parlement of Paris in 1637). Its aims included chiefly the governance of French literary effort, grammar, orthography, and rhetoric. The membership was soon fixed at 40 (called often, because of their former motto, "the forty immortals") and was established as self-perpetuating, with a veto of elections reserved to the official protecteur (or patron), later to the state. The first notable act of the society was the criticism of the Cid of Pierre Corneille.

After Richelieu's death (1642) the patronate went (1643) to Pierre Séguier, the chancellor; on his death (1672), King Louis XIV assumed the position of protecteur, which remained ever after a prerogative of the head of the French state. The suppression of the academies in 1793 ended the French Academy; it reappeared in the second class of Napoleon's Institut (1803), and the old name and organization were "restored" in the first division of the Institut of 1816.

The academy has often been accused of literary conservatism, owing to the failure of certain writers to attain membership; the most prominent of these are perhaps Molière, Marquis de La Rochefoucauld, Duc de Saint-Simon, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Honoré de Balzac, Gustave Flaubert, Stendhal, Émile Zola, and Marcel Proust. But not all omissions from the academy roster are attributable to literary criteria, for personal respectability and loyalty to the existing state have always been conditions of membership. The membership of the academy has traditionally included eminent Frenchmen outside the field of literature; some of its members come from France's senior clergy to mark the role of Roman Catholicism in French culture. Today the academy's membership includes women and people of other nationalities who write in French.

Functions

The work of the French Academy has chiefly consisted of the preparation and revision of a dictionary (1st ed. 1694, 9th ed. 1992-) and of a grammar. The very conservative attitude of these books toward orthography, new words, and grammatical development has led to much criticism. The academy, however, has never claimed to legislate but simply to record forms; legislation on orthography and grammar was made a function of the minister of public instruction during the Third Republic. The awarding of literary prizes has also been an important function of the French Academy, and in the 19th cent. its nonpartisanship encouraged the general recognition of the academy as a suitable trustee for the distribution of grants and prizes for courage and civic virtue.

Brooklyn Academy of Music, performing arts center located in the borough of Brooklyn, N.Y. and popularly known as BAM. Founded in 1859 and opened in 1861, it is the oldest such institution still in operation in the United States. It moved to its neo-Italianate building in downtown Brooklyn in 1907. The Academy presently has four major performance areas-the Opera House, the Playhouse, the Leperq space, and the BAM Rose Cinemas. The Academy has long presented concerts, plays, ballet, and lectures, and it is now home to the Brooklyn Philharmonic. Since 1967 it has expanded into a center for experimental theater, new opera, contemporary and ethnic music and dance, independent films, and multimedia productions. An avant-garde showplace, it is also the venue for the artistically adventurous Next Wave Festival, an annual 10-week series of events that originated in 1981.

American Academy in Rome, founded in 1894 as the American School of Architecture in Rome by Charles F. McKim and enlarged in 1897 with the founding of the American Academy in Rome for students of architecture, sculpture, and painting. It was incorporated by act of Congress in 1905. In 1913 its charter was amended to include the American School of Classical Studies in Rome. It annually awards to U.S. citizens competitive fellowships bearing a yearly stipend, a travel allowance, and residence in Rome. Fellowships are granted in architecture, painting, sculpture, music, landscape architecture, and art history.

American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, honorary academy of notable American artists, writers, and composers. The National Institute of Arts and Letters, founded in 1898, served as the parent body for the American Academy of Arts and Letters, founded in 1904, until the two were amalgamated in 1976. Membership is limited to 250 native or naturalized U.S. citizens, of which 50 are elected to the Academy for notable achievements in art, literature, or music. The Academy-Institute also has an honorary membership of 75 foreign artists, writers, and composers to strengthen cultural ties with other countries. The Academy-Institute offers a number of prizes annually, including the Brunner Memorial Award in Architecture and the Gold Medal for excellence in the arts. The members of the Academy confer the Howells Medal, given every five years for a work of American fiction, and the Award of Merit Medal, given in five categories of the arts to a person not affiliated with the Academy. Located in New York City, it maintains a museum and a library (23,000 volumes), and holds exhibitions of works of art, manuscripts, books, and scores. It also purchases paintings by American artists for distribution to museums.

Academy, school founded by Plato near Athens c.387 B.C. It took its name from the garden (named for the hero Academus) in which it was located. Plato's followers met there for nine centuries until, along with other pagan schools, it was closed by Emperor Justinian in A.D. 529. The Academy has come to mean the entire school of Platonic philosophy, covering the period from Plato through Neoplatonism under Proclus. During this period Platonic philosophy was modified in various ways. These have been frequently divided into three phases: the Old Academy (until c.250 B.C.) of Plato, Speusippus, and Xenocrates; the Middle Academy (until c.150 B.C.) of Arcesilaus and Carneades, who introduced and maintained skepticism as being more faithful to Plato and Socrates; and the New Academy (c.110 B.C.) of Philo of Larissa, who, with subsequent leaders, returned to the dogmatism of the Old Academy.

Society of learned individuals organized to advance art, science, literature, music, or some other cultural or intellectual area of endeavour. The word comes from the name of an olive grove outside ancient Athens, the site of Plato's famous school of philosophy in the 4th century BC. Academies appeared in Italy in the 15th century and reached their greatest influence in the 17th–18th centuries. Their purpose generally was to provide training and, when applicable, to create exhibiting or performance opportunities for their members or students. Most European countries now have at least one academy sponsored by or otherwise connected with the state. Seealso Académie Française.

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known as Annapolis

Institution for the training of commissioned officers for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. It was founded at Annapolis, Md., in 1845 and reorganized in 1850–51. Women were first admitted in 1976. Graduates are awarded the degree of bachelor of science and a commission as ensign in the Navy or as second lieutenant in the Marine Corps. Annapolis has produced many notable Americans, including George Dewey, Richard E. Byrd, Chester Nimitz, William F. Halsey, Jr., A.A. Michelson, Hyman Rickover, Jimmy Carter, Ross Perot, and several astronauts.

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known as West Point

Institution for the training of commissioned officers for the U.S. Army. Founded in 1802 at the fort at West Point, N.Y., it is one of the oldest service academies in the world. It was established as an apprentice school for military engineers and was, in effect, the first U.S. school of engineering. It was reorganized in 1812, and in 1866 its educational program was expanded considerably. Women were first admitted in 1976. The four-year course of college-level education and training leads to a bachelor of science degree and a commission as second lieutenant in the Army. West Point has trained such leaders as Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis, John Pershing, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur, Omar Bradley, and George Patton.

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Institution for the training of commissioned officers for the U.S. Air Force, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Created by an act of Congress in 1954, it opened in 1955. Graduates receive a bachelor's degree and a second lieutenant's commission. Most physically qualified graduates go on to Air Force pilot-training schools. Candidates may come from the ranks of the U.S. Army or Air Force, may be children of deceased veterans of the armed forces, or may be nominated by U.S. senators or representatives or by the president or vice president. All applicants must take a competitive entrance examination.

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Britain's national academy of art. It was founded in 1768 by George III. Its first president (1768–92) was Joshua Reynolds. The number of its members, who are selected by members and associates, is fixed at 40; members' names are frequently followed by the initials R.A. (“Royal Academician”). Its galleries contain works by such former members as Thomas Gainsborough and J.M.W. Turner. The academy opened a new wing, the Sackler Galleries, in 1991.

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Literary academy in France. The Académie Française was established by Cardinal Richelieu in 1634 to maintain standards of literary taste and to establish the literary language. In modern times it has endeavoured (somewhat absurdly) to purify French of foreign loanwords. Its membership is limited to 40. Despite its conservatism, most of France's great writers, including Pierre Corneille, Jean Racine, Voltaire, and Victor Hugo, have been members.

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