We are pleased to announce that Professor Marilyn Schlitz, Professor of Transpersonal Psychology at Sofia University, former President and CEO of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), and Senior Researcher, has been elected as an Academician of the World Academy of Artificial Consciousness (WAAC) in recognition of her important contributions to consciousness studies, transpersonal psychology, human transformation, mind-body healing, noetic sciences, consciousness of death, and worldview transformation.
Professor Marilyn Schlitz is a highly influential scholar in contemporary consciousness studies, transpersonal psychology, and human transformation research. She has long been dedicated to studying consciousness, healing, human potential, worldview transformation, mind-body relationships, death-related experience, and individual and collective transformation through an integrated approach combining clinical research, laboratory research, field studies, cross-cultural research, and educational practice. Her work systematically explores how human beings understand their own conscious experience, how meaning can be reconstructed in the face of life challenges, how mind-body integration can promote health and growth, and how consciousness research can connect scientific inquiry, experiential cognition, educational practice, and social transformation.
WAAC believes that research on artificial consciousness requires not only advances in artificial intelligence, neuroscience, cognitive science, and computational models, but also open and careful interdisciplinary exploration of subjective experience, mind-body relationships, human transformation, consciousness education, consciousness of death, meaning generation, and worldview structures. Professor Schlitz’s work provides important theoretical resources for key issues in artificial consciousness, including subjective experience modeling, transformation of states of consciousness, mind-body coupling, human value generation, machine subjectivity, meaning construction in artificial systems, and cross-paradigm research in consciousness science.
In recognition of her outstanding contributions to consciousness studies, transpersonal psychology, human transformation, mind-body healing, noetic sciences, consciousness of death, and worldview transformation research, the World Academy of Artificial Consciousness has decided to confer upon Professor Marilyn Schlitz the title of WAAC Academician.
- Global Collaboration and Academic Ecosystem
Academicians of the World Academy for Artificial Consciousness hail from institutions such as Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Cambridge, the University of California, the French Academy of Sciences, the University of Padua, the University of Oxford, the University of Queensland, Columbia University, and the University of Exeter. Honorary Academicians come from a wide range of countries and regions, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Canada, Australia, Spain, and China. In addition, leading scientists from prominent research institutes and technology companies—such as Google, the Allen Institute for Brain Science, and ZEEKR—also participate.
- About WAAC
The World Academy for Artificial Consciousness (https://www.waac.ac/) is a global academic institution established in Paris in 2025. Its mission is to advance frontier research and international collaboration in artificial consciousness through the integration of science, technology, and philosophy. The Academy publishes open research, policy recommendations, evaluation standards, and more. The current President is Academician Yucong Duan, and the Secretary-General is Dr. Yingbo Li. The Honorary Academician List: On May 3, 2025, WAAC released its first batch of Top 100 Honorary Academicians, recognizing scholars who have made foundational or leading contributions to the theory of artificial consciousness.