#MacArthur Foundation’s 22 Newest Fellows, 2025: Physical #Scientists, Social Scientists, #Writers, #Artists, #Archaeologists, #Activists, #Poets, #Filmmakers, #Musicians, #Performers and #Historians

10/10/2025 by Sally Ember, EdD

#MacArthur Foundation’s 22 Newest Fellows, 2025:
Physical #Scientists, Social Scientists, #Writers, #Artists, #Archaeologists, #Activists, #Poets, #Filmmakers, #Musicians, #Performers and #Historians

The 2025 MacArthur Fellows expand the boundaries of knowledge, artistry, and human understanding. They focus our attention on microbial worlds and distant stars, community vitality and timeless traditions, sacred and improvisational music, and shared histories of our time on Earth. With virtuosity, persistence, and courage, they chart new paths toward collaborative, creative, and flourishing futures.
Kristen Mack
Vice President, Communications, MacArthur Fellows, and Partnerships

“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, 1175 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….

“There are three criteria for selection of Fellows:

Exceptional creativity
Promise for important future advances based on a track record of significant accomplishments which could be enabled by our support
Potential for the Fellowship to facilitate subsequent creative work.”

“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.”

“By providing these individuals with unfettered support in pursuit of creative activities and knowledge, the Fellows Program seeks to:

Highlight the importance of imaginative thinking in creating new works of art that inspire;
Spotlight the value of risk-taking in addressing deep-rooted societal problems;
Expand our understanding of creativity; and
Cultivate the next generation of innovators.”

“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….”

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/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=enews&utm_campaign=fellows-landing-10-25

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 2025, many of whom are celebrated across more than two disciplines/areas of study and expertise:

Ángel F. Adames Corraliza, Madison, Wisconsin, Atmospheric Scientist “Investigating the mechanisms underlying tropical weather patterns. Adames combines deep knowledge of the physics of atmospheric waves with keen analysis of observational data and climate model simulations. He sheds light on tropical atmospheric dynamics that influence global weather patterns and phenomena such as tropical cyclones and monsoons.”

Matt Black, Exeter, California, photographer: “Chronicling people and landscapes in marginalized communities across the United States. In distinctive black and white images, Black compels viewers to grapple with the prevalence of poverty in the United States and its impacts on daily life for many Americans….[Black also] shows the impact of sustained drought on the [Central Valley, CA] region’s migrant farmworkers.”

Garrett Bradley, New Orleans, Artist and Filmmaker: “Blending elements of documentary, narrative, and experimental cinema to explore questions of justice, public memory, and cultural visibility…..Through formal experimentation that pushes aesthetic conventions, Bradley harnesses the full potential of moving images to evoke feeling and render the textures of her subjects’ lives.”

Heather Christian, Beacon, New York, Composer, Lyricist, Playwright, and Vocalist: “Creating music theater performances that explore the possibility for the sacred and spiritual in our modern world. Christian’s musical sound reflects a panoply of influences—the jazz and blues of her Southern upbringing, Catholic and Baptist liturgical music, and European choral traditions—and her exceptional artistry with vocal arrangements and orchestration.”

Nabarun Dasgupta, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Epidemiologist and Harm Reduction Advocate: “Creating practical programs to mitigate harms from drug use, particularly opioid overdose deaths. Dasgupta combines scientific studies with community engagement to improve the well-being and safety of people who use drugs and people living with debilitating pain.”

Kristina Douglass, New York, New York, Archaeologist: “Investigating how human societies and environments co-evolved and adapted to climate variability. Douglass’s research focuses on coastal communities in southwest Madagascar, a biodiversity hot spot that is particularly vulnerable to present-day climate change pressures.”

Kareem El-Badry, Pasadena, California, Astrophysicist: “investigating how stars form, evolve, and interact. El-Badry leverages astronomical datasets and theoretical modeling to investigate binary star systems, black holes, neutron stars, and other stellar bodies. His ability to extract insights from the enormous amounts of data gathered in space observation missions has led to many discoveries—from overlooked dormant black holes in our galaxy to new classes of stars and coupled systems.”

Jeremy Frey, Eddington, Maine, Artist: “Balancing tradition with innovation in technically precise and visually stunning woven artworks. Frey is descended from a long line of Wabanaki basket makers, and his art is imbued with the value systems, environmental stewardship, and history of traditional Wabanaki ash and sweetgrass basketry. Through experimentation with color, form, and materials, he forges a singular aesthetic that blurs the boundaries between craft, design, and contemporary art.”

Hahrie Han, Baltimore, Maryland, Political Scientist: “addressing critical questions about how and why people participate in civic and political life. Employing a range of ethnographic, sociological, experimental, and quantitative methods, she examines organizational structures and tactics that encourage individuals to interact across lines of difference and work together for change in the public sphere. Han combines the analytical rigor of political science with careful attention to the lived experiences of her subjects.”

Tonika Lewis Johnson, Chicago, Illinois, Photographer and Social Justice Artist: “Exposing the impacts of systematic disinvestment in urban communities. Johnson uses photography, maps, and multimedia storytelling to articulate the vast disparities in conditions, infrastructure, and investment between Chicago’s neighborhoods. At the same time, she creates pathways for residents to begin the process of restitution and repair.”

Ieva Jusionyte, Providence, Rhode Island, Cultural Anthropologist: “Exploring the political and moral ambiguities of border regions, where state policies regulate historically shifting distinctions between legal and illegal practices. Her ethnographic accounts are based on years of fieldwork and immersion among people whose occupations give them frontline vantage points on the ways border policies play out in the lives of individuals and communities. From these rarely observed perspectives, Jusionyte reveals how security mechanisms and cycles of violence perpetuate states of emergency and social fracture.”

Toby Kiers, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Evolutionary Biologist: “Investigating symbiotic partnerships between plants, fungi, and other microbes. She illuminates the evolutionary mechanisms underlying cooperation between species as well as the role of plant-microbe mutualisms in ecosystem health. Kiers’s research shows that microbes are not passive accessories to plants but powerful actors in their own right.”

Jason McLellan, Austin, Texas, Structural Biologist: “Investigating virus fusion proteins and developing new interventions to prevent infectious diseases. McLellan’s engineered viral proteins are critical to catalyzing vaccine design, particularly for infectious respiratory diseases.”

Tuan Andrew Nguyen, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Multidisciplinary Artist: “Giving aesthetic form to the enduring repercussions of violence and dispossession. He grounds his films and sculptures in the histories of communities grappling with intergenerational traumas of war and displacement, in places ranging from his native Vietnam to the Philippines, Senegal, Papua New Guinea, and the United States. Much of his work explores moving images and material objects as repositories of memory and the potential for storytelling to be an instrument of healing and resistance against colonial erasure.”

Tommy Orange, Oakland, California, Fiction Writer: “Capturing a diverse range of Native American experiences and lives in novels that traverse time, space, and narrative perspectives. Orange’s novels center his characters’ interior lives: their emotions, ideas, and realizations in moments of joy and pain. Through expansive casts of interconnected characters, he shows the many ways historical trauma and dislocation can rupture the fabric of everyday life. Orange’s hometown of Oakland, California, serves as the backdrop for his depictions of urban Native Americans grappling with identity, survival, and healing.”

Margaret Wickens Pearce, Rockland, Maine, Cartographer: “Creating maps that foreground Indigenous Peoples’ understanding of land and place. Pearce pushes the boundaries of cartography beyond two-dimensional depictions of static and defined spaces. She draws on a wide range of archival materials and long-term collaborations with Indigenous communities to resurface their history, knowledge, and presence throughout North America.”

Sébastien Philippe, Madison, Wisconsin, Nuclear Security Specialist: “Exposing past harms and potential future risks from building, testing, and storing launch-ready nuclear weapons. Philippe draws on archival research, data modelling, and his training as a nuclear safety engineer to clarify the extent of human and environmental damage from nuclear tests and the risks associated with nuclear weapon modernization policies. He builds multidisciplinary collaborations to make his research accessible and useful to affected communities and policymakers. “

Gala Porras-Kim, London, England, Los Angeles, California, Interdisciplinary Artist: “Proposing new ways to make visible the layered meanings and functions of cultural artifacts held in museums and institutional collections. With nuance, empathy, and, at times, playfulness, Porras-Kim probes the methods institutions use to classify, conserve, and interpret items in their collections. Her research-intensive practice focuses on objects and forms of knowledge that have been separated from their original contexts.”

Teresa Puthussery, Berkeley, California, Neurobiologist and Optometrist: “Exploring how neural circuits of the retina encode visual information for the primate brain. Her research into retinal ganglion cells is filling a long-standing gap in knowledge about the human visual system. It also has implications for treating retinal neurodegenerative diseases such as glaucoma and macular degeneration.”

Craig Taborn, Brooklyn, New York, Improvising Musician and Composer: “Creating singular soundscapes through a virtuosic command of piano and expansive knowledge of musical genres. In performances and recordings as a soloist, bandleader, and sideman, Taborn brings a fearless and sophisticated approach to music making. He draws from musical traditions as varied as traditional and contemporary jazz, contemporary classical, experimental, electronic, rock, metal, and hip-hop. His constant exploration of genre and style informs his own distinct musical intelligence and voice.”

William Tarpeh, Stanford, California, Chemical Engineer: “Developing sustainable and practical methods to recover valuable chemical resources from wastewater. Tarpeh’s research focuses on recycling nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus. His resource recovery technologies require minimal infrastructure and energy, and they offer opportunities for sustainably sourcing agricultural nutrients and industrial metals in a range of contexts.”

Lauren K. Williams, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Mathematician: “Elucidating unexpected connections between algebraic combinatorics and concepts in other areas of math and physics. Williams has made significant contributions to numerous mathematical fields, including cluster algebras, representation theory, and algebraic geometry. She has also forged cross-disciplinary collaborations to tackle long-standing and challenging problems in physics related to quantum field theory, particle physics, and wave propagation.”

You can view ALL 1175 recipients of this “Genius Grant” (all the Fellows): https://www.macfound.org/fellows/search/all

#MacArthur Foundation’s 22 Newest Fellows, 2024: #Scientists, #Writers, #Artists, Policy Makers, #Sociologists, #Activists, #Poets, #Filmmakers, #Musicians, #Performers, #Dancers, #Choreographers and #Historians

10/04/2024 by Sally Ember, EdD

#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

“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!

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

#MacArthur Foundation’s 25 Newest Fellows, 2022: #Scientists, #Filmmakers, #Artists, #Sociologists, #Musicians, #Writers, #Activists and #Historians

10/13/2022 by Sally Ember, EdD

#MacArthur Foundation’s 25 Newest Fellows, 2022:
#Scientists, #Filmmakers, #Artists, #Sociologists, #Musicians, #Writers, #Activists and #Historians

logo 2022

The 2022 MacArthur Fellows are architects of new modes of activism, artistic practice, and citizen science. They are excavators uncovering what has been overlooked, undervalued, or poorly understood. They are archivists reminding us of what should survive.

Their work extends from the molecular level to the land beneath our feet to Earth’s orbital environment—offering new ways for us to understand the communities, systems, and social forces that shape our lives around the globe.

—Marlies Carruth
Director, MacArthur Fellows

“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!

**MacArthur Fellows 2022**
*John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation*

For bios, specific info on each Fellow, and more about the Program and the Foundation, check out their website: https://www.macfound.org/programs/fellows/

In the Foundation’s favor, this year—for the FIRST time since I’ve been tracking it, which is many years—the female-appearing Fellows are exceeding the male-appearing Fellows: 9 seeming males, 16 seeming female and 1 nonbinary fellow. The Fellows process has been great on “diversity” and varying geographic locations for quite a while. This year, only about 5 appear to be Caucasian. You can check out the stats on their site any time.

Again, LOVE this! Here are mini-bios of each Fellow for 2022:

Jennifer Carlson of Tucson, AZ, is a sociologist who studies “the motivations, assumptions, and social forces that drive gun ownership and shape gun culture in the United States.”

Paul Chan of New York, NY, is an artist, “testing the capacity of art to make human experience available for critical reflection and to effect social change.”

Yejin Choi of the University of Washington is a computer scientist who uses, “natural language processing to develop artificial intelligence systems that can understand language and make inferences about the world.”

P. Gabrielle Foreman of Pennsylvania State University is a literary historian and digital humanist who specializes in “nineteenth-century collective Black organizing efforts through initiatives such as the Colored Conventions Project.”

Danna Freedman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a synthetic inorganic chemist, “creating novel molecular materials with unique properties directly relevant to quantum information technologies.”

Martha Gonzalez of Scripps College is a musician, scholar and artist/activist “strengthening cross-border ties and advancing participatory methods of artistic knowledge production in the service of social justice.”

Sky Hopinka of Bard College is an artist and filmmaker who combines “imagery and language in films and videos that offer new strategies of representation for the expression of Indigenous worldviews.”

June Huh of Princeton University is a mathematician who studies the “underlying connections between disparate areas of mathematics and proving long-standing mathematical conjectures.”

Moriba Jah of the University of Texas, Austin, is an astrodynamicist “envisioning transparent and collaborative solutions for creating a circular space economy that improves oversight of Earth’s orbital spheres.”

Jenna Jambeck of the University of Georgia is an environmental engineer “investigating the scale and pathways of plastic pollution and galvanizing efforts to address plastic waste.”

Monica Kim of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, is an historian who examines “the interplay between U.S. foreign policy, military intervention, processes of decolonization, and individual rights in regional settings around the globe.”

Robin Wall Kimmerer of SUNY-Syracuse is a plant ecologist, educator, and writer “articulating an alternative vision of environmental stewardship informed by traditional ecological knowledge.”

Priti Krishtel of the Initiative for Medicines, Access, and Knowledge (I-MAK) in Oakland, CA, is a health justice lawyer “exposing the inequities in the patent system to increase access to affordable, life-saving medications on a global scale.”

Joseph Drew Lanham of Clemson University is an ornithologist, naturalist and writer “creating a new model of conservation that combines conservation science with personal, historical, and cultural narratives of nature.”

Kiese Laymon of Rice University is a writer “bearing witness to the myriad forms of violence that mark the Black experience in formally inventive fiction and nonfiction.”

Reuben Jonathan Miller of the University of Chicago is a sociologist, criminologist and social worker who traces “the long-term consequences that incarceration and re-entry systems have on the lives of individuals and their families.”

Ikue Mori of New York, NY, is an electronic music composer and performer “transforming the use of percussion in improvisation and expanding the boundaries of machine-based music.”

Steven Prohira of the University of Kansas is a physicist “challenging conventional theories and engineering new tools to detect ultra-high energy subatomic particles that could hold clues to long-held mysteries of our universe.”

Tomeka Reid of Chicago, Ill., is a jazz cellist and composer “forging a unique jazz sound that draws from a range of musical traditions and expanding the expressive possibilities of the cello in improvised music.”

Loretta J. Ross of Smith College is a reproductive justice and human rights advocate “shaping a visionary paradigm linking social justice, human rights, and reproductive justice.”

Steven Ruggles of the University of Minnesota is an historical demographer “setting new standards in quantitative historical research by building the world’s largest publicly available database of population statistics.”

Tavares Strachan of New York, NY, and Nassau, The Bahamas, is an interdisciplinary conceptual artist “expanding the possibilities for what art can be and illuminating overlooked contributions of marginalized figures throughout history.”

Emily Wang of Yale University School of Medicine is a primary care physician and researcher who partners with “people recently released from prison to address their needs and the ways that incarceration influences chronic health conditions.”

Amanda Williams of Chicago, IL, is an artist and architect “reimagining public space to expose the complex ways that value, both cultural and economic, intersects with race in the built environment.”

Melanie Matchett Wood of Harvard University is a mathematician “addressing foundational questions in number theory from the perspective of arithmetic statistics.”

You can view ALL 1061 recipients of this “Genius Grant” (all the Fellows): https://www.macfound.org/fellows/search/all

#MacArthur Foundation 25 Newest Fellows 2018: #Scientists, #Artists, #Dancers, #Musicians, #Writers, #Activists, More

10/08/2018 by Sally Ember, EdD

#MacArthur Foundation 25 Newest Fellows 2018: #Scientists, #Artists, #Dancers, #Musicians, #Writers, #Activists, More

“The MacArthur Fellowship is a $625,000, no-strings-attached award to extraordinarily talented and creative individuals as an investment in their potential.”

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 $125,000/year for 5 years to do WHATEVER THEY WANT!

Working in diverse fields, from the arts and sciences to public health and civil liberties, these 25 MacArthur Fellows are solving long-standing scientific and mathematical problems, pushing art forms into new and emerging territories, and addressing the urgent needs of under-resourced communities. Their exceptional creativity inspires hope in us all.

For bios, specific info on each Fellow, and more about the Program and the Foundation, check out their website: https://www.macfound.org/programs/fellows/

“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 $625,000 to the recipient, paid out in equal quarterly installments over five years.”

In the Foundation’s favor, this year—for the first time since I’ve been tracking it, which is many years—the female-appearing Fellows outnumber the male-appearing Fellows: 10 seeming males, 13 seeming females, and two gender-free. The Fellows process has been great on “diversity” and varying geographic locations (but still too many are from the coasts) for quite a while. You can check out the stats on their site any time.

Very cool!

2017 #MacArthur Fellows: 24 Creative, Genius, Unique Leaders Who Inspire

10/13/2017 by Sally Ember, EdD

2017 #MacArthur Fellows: 24 Creative, Genius, Unique Leaders Who Inspire

Let’s celebrate extraordinary and amazing and beneficial and FUN people! I first heard about these annual awards when they were only about $200,000 and they were called “Genius Grants.” The stipend for the MacArthur Fellowship is currently set at $625,000, paid in quarterly installments over five years.

The cool thing about this award is that the group of people who nominate and select these individuals every year are ANONYMOUS and it is apparently impossible to discover their identities. This protects the process from corruption, one would hope.

Their FAQs page states: “All of the participants in the selection process—–nominators, evaluators, and selectors—–serve anonymously, and we keep their communications confidential. Anonymity protects them from being inundated with unsolicited requests. In addition, our experience shows that people readily provide frank impressions if they have an assurance that their responses will not be disseminated beyond the program staff and Selection Committee.”

I’ve heard that each recipient gets a phone call “out of the blue,” since they don’t even know they’re being considered, to announce that they are selected and about to receive one of our highest honors and a huge cash award.

The idea behind these awards is that the Fellows can then “quit their day jobs” or work less for money while living on the investments/cash they get/accumulate from this award. That award liberates Fellows to pursue their genius ideas even further! YEA!

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.

Again, from the FAQs: “The MacArthur Fellowship is designed to provide seed money for intellectual, social, and artistic endeavors. We believe that highly motivated, self-directed, and talented people are in the best position to decide how to allocate their time and resources. By adopting a ‘no strings attached’ policy, we provide the maximum freedom for the recipients to follow their creative vision, whether it is moving forward with their current activities, expanding the scope of their work, or embarking upon an entirely new endeavor. There are no restrictions on how the money can be spent, and we impose no reporting obligations.”

I also love that they make a concerted effort and usually succeed in finding obscure, diverse, interesting and helpful people to whom to give this important award each year. Check out the 2017 cohort!

Anybody a fan of the CMT TV series, Nashville, as I have been? One of the recurring roles has been being played in 2015-2017 by one of this year’s recipients, Rhiannon Giddens, a gifted “Singer, Instrumentalist, and Songwriter,” who won for: “Reclaiming African American contributions to folk and country music and bringing to light new connections between music from the past and the present.”

Sometimes, though, they do not pick the “thought-leader” in a particular area, but one who is using others’ work in new ways or places. I wish they’d give credit to the originators of this recipient’s work: Betsy Levy Paluck uses the thinking and program components of Community Matters‘ Safe School Ambassadors program’s creators, Rick Phillips, John Linney and Chris Pack. I know this because I worked for/with them and helped write the book they created about their anti-bullying work over 10 years ago. Oh, well. Can’t win them all!

Spread the word! Read about these people and their projects to youth and adults to inspire us all to be better! There is no upper age limit on recipients, either!

This year’s recipients include artists/designers, social scientists/humanities scholars, physical scientists/mathematicians, writers, community leaders/ strategists/ activists, and more.

There are, as usual (2016 was an exception), fewer female (9) than male (15) recipients. Most are under 50 years old, but a few are older.

However, more than usual (15) are people of non-Caucasian/ non-Western European ethnicities. Click on this link for an interactive map showing each of the recipient’s place of birth or location at the time of their award: https://www.macfound.org/maps/2/

A few are academics or work in other large organizations, but most are independent owners/operators or work in small businesses or in the nonprofit sectors.

Want to know more? Check out these myth-busting responses: https://www.macfound.org/press/commentary/five-myths-about-macarthur-genius-grants/

2017 MacArthur Fellows: 24 Extraordinarily Creative People Who Inspire Us All

The MacArthur Foundation named the 2017 MacArthur Fellows this week (10/10/17). Fellows will each receive a no-strings-attached stipend of $625,000, allowing recipients maximum freedom to follow their own creative visions.

“From transforming conditions for low-wage workers to identifying internet security vulnerabilities, from celebrating the African American string band tradition to designing resilient urban habitats, these new MacArthur Fellows bring their exceptional creativity to diverse people, places, and social challenges. Their work gives us reason for optimism and inspires us all.”

Visit the MacArthur Foundation website for Fellows’ bios and more info about each recipient as well as videos, the lists and descriptions/bios of previous years’ recipients, and the remaining FAQs/Answers:

https://www.macfound.org/programs/fellows/

2015 #MacArthur Fellows: 24 Extraordinarily Creative People Who Inspire Us All

09/30/2015 by Sally Ember, EdD

I’ve heard that the recipient gets a phone call “out of the blue,” since they don’t even know they’re being considered, to announce that they are selected and about to receive one of our highest honors and a huge cash award.

The idea behind these awards is that the Fellows can then “quit their day jobs” or work less for money while living on the investments/cash they get/accumulate from this award. That liberates them to pursue their genius ideas even further! YEAH!

Spread the word! Read about these people and their projects to youth and adults to inspire us all to be better! There is no upper age limit on recipients, either!

2015 MacArthur Fellows: 24 Extraordinarily Creative People Who Inspire Us All

Recognizing 24 exceptionally creative individuals with a track record of achievement and the potential for significant contributions in the future, the Foundation today named the 2015 MacArthur Fellows. Fellows will each receive a no-strings-attached stipend of $625,000, allowing recipients maximum freedom to follow their own creative visions.

“These 24 delightfully diverse MacArthur Fellows are shedding light and making progress on critical issues, pushing the boundaries of their fields, and improving our world in imaginative, unexpected ways,” said MacArthur President Julia Stasch. “Their work, their commitment, and their creativity inspire us all.”

https://www.macfound.org/fellows/class/2015/