Democracy in Latin America

Battro Named to Pontifical Academy

Antonio M. Battro M.D., Ph.D. has been named to The Pontifical Academy of Sciences, the oldest science academy in the world, established by Galileo 400 years ago. Battro, Robert F. Kennedy Visiting Professor of Latin American Studies at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, is a leading scholar in the fields of educational technology, cognitive and developmental psychology, and neuroscience.

Born in Mar del Plata, Argentina, he received his medical degree from the University of Buenos Aires and Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Paris. Battro has worked as a member of the International Center of Genetic Epistemology at the University of Geneva with Jean Piaget, and at the Laboratory of Experimental and Comparative Psychology at the University of Paris with Paul Fraisse. He is a pioneer in the field of computers in education in Argentina and Brazil, and is active in the use of digital technologies in the development of neurocognitive potential.

There are two other Academicians in the Boston area: Joseph E. Murray, professor at Harvard Medical School (transplantation and reconstructive surgery) and professor at MIT Mario J. Molina (atmospheric chemistry) both Nobel Prize winners. The Academy is an independent body within the Holy See and enjoys freedom of research. The new members of the Academy are elected by the body of Academicians and are chosen from men and women of every race and religion on the basis of the high scientific value of their activities and their high moral profile. They are then officially appointed by the Roman Pontiff. John Paul II raised the number of life members from 70 to 80, along with a limited number of Honorary Academicians. The Pontifical Academy of Sciences promotes the progress of the mathematical, physical and natural sciences and the study of epistemological problems relating thereto.

Pope John Paul II is expected to give Battro the insignia of his appointment during a Solemn Pontifical Audience of the next Plenary Session this month in Rome.