Stephen Hawking was elected to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in 1986. He became one of the Academy’s Academicians during a period when his work on gravitation, black holes, and cosmology had earned international recognition.
The Pontifical Academy of Sciences is an international scientific body based in Vatican City. Despite its name and location, membership is based on scientific achievement rather than religious affiliation. Its members have included scientists from different countries, disciplines, and religious backgrounds.
Official Academy records identify Hawking among the new Academicians presented during the Academy’s 1986 fiftieth-anniversary plenary session. His membership was therefore established in 1986, not 1985, 1987, or 1984.
Hawking’s election is sometimes remembered alongside his later criticism of religious explanations for the universe. That association can cause confusion, but the Academy’s purpose was to recognize his scientific contribution, especially his influential research into the nature of space, time, and black holes.