We aren’t fancy enough to shop at the Cartier store, but we are totally willing to pose in front of its lavishly decorated building on Newbury Street in Boston.

The signage celebrates the American Academy of Arts and Science’s formation in 1780, and says this building was erected in 1912 in honor of Alexander Agassiz (1835-1910).

Agassiz, a scientist and engineer, was mostly raised and educated in Europe, but came to America to work at the Museum of Cooperative Zoology at Harvard, ultimately becoming its director.

He served as President of the National Academy of Sciences from 1901-1907. “Agassiz’s term of service is distinguished by the addition of a section of the Academy in the field of psychology,” according to the National Academy of Sciences website, where a full history of his contributions is listed.