#MacArthur Foundation’s 22 Newest Fellows, 2024:
#Scientists, #Writers, #Artists, Policy Makers, #Sociologists, #Activists, #Poets, #Filmmakers, #Musicians, #Performers, #Dancers, #Choreographers and #Historians
The 2024 MacArthur Fellows pursue rigorous inquiry with aspiration and purpose. They expose biases built into emerging technologies and social systems and fill critical gaps in the knowledge of cycles that sustain life on Earth. Their work highlights our shared humanity, centering the agency of disabled people, the humor and histories of Indigenous communities, the emotional lives of adolescents, and perspectives of rural Americans.
Marlies Carruth, Director, MacArthur Fellows
“The MacArthur Fellowship is a $800,000, no-strings-attached award to extraordinarily talented and creative individuals as an investment in their potential….Since 1981, 1153 people have been named MacArthur Fellows….
“Nominees are brought to the Program’s attention through a constantly changing pool of invited external nominators chosen from as broad a range of fields and areas of interest as possible. They are encouraged to draw on their expertise, accomplishments, and breadth of experience to nominate the most creative people they know within their field and beyond….
“The MacArthur Fellows Program is intended to encourage people of outstanding talent to pursue their own creative, intellectual, and professional inclinations. In keeping with this purpose, the Foundation awards fellowships directly to individuals rather than through institutions. Recipients may be writers, scientists, artists, social scientists, humanists, teachers, entrepreneurs, or those in other fields, with or without institutional affiliations. They may use their fellowship to advance their expertise, engage in bold new work, or, if they wish, to change fields or alter the direction of their careers.
“Although nominees are reviewed for their achievements, the fellowship is not a lifetime achievement award, but rather an investment in a person’s originality, insight, and potential. Indeed, the purpose of the MacArthur Fellows Program is to enable recipients to exercise their own creative instincts for the benefit of human society.
“The Foundation does not require or expect specific products or reports from MacArthur Fellows and does not evaluate recipients’ creativity during the term of the fellowship. The MacArthur Fellowship is a “no strings attached” award in support of people, not projects. Each fellowship comes with a stipend of $800,000 to the recipient, paid out in equal quarterly installments over five years….”
“There are three criteria for selection of Fellows:
- Exceptional creativity
- Promise for important future advances based on a track record of significant accomplishments
- Potential for the Fellowship to facilitate subsequent creative work.”
Meet the newest crop of very fortunate creative sorts, this year’s MacArthur Fellows, who will each receive $800,000/year spread over 5 years, to do WHATEVER THEY WANT!
For bios, specific info on each Fellow (photos, videos, websites, more), and plenty about the Program and the Foundation, check out their website: https://www.macfound.org/programs/awards/fellows/results?fellow_class=2024
Imagine: There are no outside or public applications or nominations. The process for selection is so secretive and unknown that very few people (no one outside the Foundation, supposedly) even knows who the nominating and selection committees’ members ARE each year!
In the Foundation’s favor, the Fellows process has been great on “diversity” and varying geographic locations for quite a while (still heavier on both coasts than within the USA, though). They also seem to make a great effort to vary the balance of seeming gender identities, professions, and types of creativity.
Again, LOVE this!
Here are the award rationales/categories for each Fellow for 2024:
Loka Ashwood, Lexington, KY, Sociologist: “Shedding light on rural identity and culture and on the ecological, economic, and social challenges facing many rural communities.”
Ruha Benjamin, Princeton, NJ, Transdisciplinary Scholar & Writer: “Illuminating how technology reflects and reproduces inequality and championing the role of imagination in social transformation.”
Justin Vivian Bond, New York, NY, Artist & Performer: “Working in the cabaret tradition and weaving cultural critique and an ethic of care into performances that center queer joy.”
Jericho Brown, Atlanta, GA, Poet: “Reflecting on contemporary culture and identity in works that combine formal experimentation and intense self-examination.”
Tony Cokes, Providence, RI, Media Artist: “Creating video works that recontextualize historical and cultural moments.”
Nicola Dell, New York, NY, Computer & Information Scientist: “Developing technology interventions to address the needs of overlooked populations, such as survivors of intimate partner violence.”
Johnny Gandelsman, New Paltz, NY, Violinist & Producer: “Reimagining classical works and nurturing the creation of new music across styles and genres.”
Sterlin Harjo, Tulsa, OK, Filmmaker: “Telling stories about the daily lives of contemporary Native Americans with humor and deep affection.”
Juan Felipe Herrera, Fresno, CA, Poet, Educator, Writer: “Uplifting Chicanx culture and amplifying shared experiences of solidarity and empowerment.”
Ling Ma, Chicago, IL, Fiction Writer: “Mixing speculative and realist modes of storytelling to throw into relief the surreal aspects of our contemporary condition.”
Jennifer L. Morgan, New York NY, Historian: “Deepening understanding of how the exploitation of enslaved women enabled the institutionalization of race-based slavery in early America and the Black Atlantic.”
Martha Muñoz, New Haven, CT, Evolutionary Biologist: “Investigating the motors and brakes of evolution.”
Shailaja Paik, Cincinnati, OH, Historian: “Exploring the intersection of caste, gender, and sexuality in modern India through the lives of Dalit women.”
Joseph Parker, Pasadena, CA, Evolutionary Biologist: “Uncovering the origins of symbiosis in rove beetles and the evolution of complex organismal traits.”
Ebony G. Patterson, Chicago, IL, & Kingston, Jamaica, Multimedia Artist: “Creating visually dazzling works that explore themes of visibility, beauty, race, class, violence, mourning, and regeneration.”
Shamel Pitts, Brooklyn, NY, Dancer & Choreographer: “Pioneering experimental performance works inspired by Afrofuturism while reimagining collective ways of world-building.”
Wendy Red Star, Portland, OR, Visual Artist: “Engaging with archival materials in works that challenge colonial historical narratives.”
Jason Reynolds, Washington, D.C., Children’s & Young Adult Writer: “Depicting the rich inner lives of kids of color and ensuring that they see themselves and their communities in literature.”
Dorothy Roberts, Philadelphia, PA, Legal Scholar & Public Policy Researcher: “Exposing racial inequities embedded in social service systems and uplifting the experiences of people caught up in them.”
Keivan Stassun, Nashville, TN, Science Educator & Astronomer: “Expanding opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and careers for underrepresented populations.”
Benjamin Van Mooy, Woods Hole, MA, Oceanographer: “Investigating how microbial organisms shape cycling of elements fundamental to life in marine environments.”
Alice Wong, San Francisco, CA, Writer, Educator & Disability Rights Advocate: “Increasing the political and cultural visibility of people with disabilities and catalyzing broader understandings of disability.”
You can view ALL 1153 recipients of this “Genius Grant” (all the Fellows): https://www.macfound.org/fellows/search/all
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Sally Ember, Ed.D. 
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