$500,000 Genius Grant Awarded by MacArthur Foundation to 22 Americans
Twenty-two Americans were awarded a no-strings-attached genius grant for $500,000. Among the list of recipients are a 38-year-old Harvard Professor, a 67-year old-silversmith and a 29-year-old cellist.
According the website for John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which runs the genius grant program, "The MacArthur Fellows Program awards unrestricted fellowships to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction."
Since June of 1981, there have been 850 individuals from diverse backgrounds with varying specialties who have been invited into the Macarthur Fellow's Program.
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The criteria to be considered for this program is open ended. The nominee must posses' exceptional creativity, promise for important future advances based on a track record of significant accomplishment, and potential for the fellowship to facilitate subsequent creative work. The nominee must also be a citizen of the United States.
Once awarded the $500,000 grant, which is divvied out quarterly for 5 years, recipients are free to use the money any way they seem fit. Some use the money to sponsor their research, continue ongoing projects, or just up and quit their day job.
Nominations for either yourself or, nominations on someone else's behalf, are not taken into consideration by the fellowship.
"Each year, the MacArthur Fellows Program invites new nominators on the basis of their expertise, accomplishments, and breadth of experience. They are encouraged to nominate the most creative people they know within their field and beyond."
This year's recipients of the genius grant are:
Jad Abumrad- Radio Host and Producer engaging a new generation of listeners with audio explorations of scientific and philosophical questions that evoke a sense of adventure and recreate the thrill of discovery.
Marie-Therese Connolly-Elder Rights Lawyer raising awareness about and seeking solutions to the largely hidden but immense problems of elder abuse and neglect.
Roland Fryer- Economist offering new insight into such issues as racial discrimination, labor market inequalities, and educational underachievement and illuminating the causes and consequences of economic disparity in American society.
Jeanne Gang- Architect integrating conventional materials, striking yet functional designs, and ecologically friendly technology in bold structures that challenge the aesthetic and technical possibilities of the art form.
Elodie Ghedin- Parasitologist/ Virologist decoding the genomes of virulent human pathogens that cause such diseases as leishmaniasis, sleeping sickness, and river blindness and threaten the lives of millions in the developing world.
Markus Greiner- Condensed Matter Physicist improving our capacity to control the spatial organization of ultra-cold atoms and applying these advances to both fundamental inquiry and technology.
Kevin Guskiewicz- Sports Medicine Researcher combining laboratory and on-the-field investigations to advance the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of sports-related brain injuries and to improve the safety of athletes of all ages.
Peter Hessler- Long-Form Journalist crafting keenly observed accounts of ordinary people responding to the complexities of life in such rapidly changing societies as Reform Era China.
Tiya Miles- Public Historian reframing and reinterpreting the history of our diverse nation in works that illuminate the complex interrelationships between African and Cherokee peoples in colonial America.
Matthew Nock- Clinical Psychologist deepening understanding of self-injury and suicide among adolescents and adults by combining epidemiology, laboratory experiments, and real-time psychological assessments in the interest of saving lives and influencing mental health care in our society.
Francisco Nunez- Choral Conductor and Composer shaping the future of choral singing for children by expanding access from inner-city to elite schools and redefining the artistic and expressive boundaries of the youth choir.
Sarah Otto- Evolutionary Geneticist addressing fundamental questions of population and evolutionary biology, such as why some species reproduce sexually and why some species carry more than one copy of each gene.
Shwetak Patel- Sensor Technologist and Computer Scientist inventing low-cost, easy-to-deploy sensor systems that leverage existing infrastructures to enable users to track household energy consumption and to make the buildings we live in more responsive to our needs.
Dafnis Prieto- Jazz Percussionist and Composer electrifying audiences with dazzling technical abilities and rhythmically adventurous compositions while infusing Latin jazz with a bold new energy and sound.
Kay Ryan- Poet composing deceptively simple verse of wisdom and elegance, grounded in explorations of familiar ideas and experiences, and surprising us with the possibilities of the medium.
Melanie Sanford- Organometallic Chemist reigniting research on an important chemical pathway and developing methods to enable modification of complex molecules with important implications for pharmaceuticals and other products we use everyday.
William Seeley- Neurologist integrating microscopy, magnetic resonance imaging, and clinical examination to identify the mechanisms underlying frontotemporal dementia, track disease progression, and create effective therapeutic interventions.
Jacob Soll- European Historian exploring the development of political thought and criticism in early modern Europe and shedding new light on the origins of the modern state.
A.E. Stallings- Poet and Translator mining the classical world and traditional poetic techniques to craft imaginative explorations of contemporary life that evoke startling insights about antiquity's relevance for today.
Ubaldo Vitali- Conservator and Silversmith drawing on deep knowledge of past and modern metalworking techniques and rigorous scholarship to restore historical masterworks and to create original works of art.
Alisa Weilerstein- Cellist combining technical precision with impassioned musicianship in performances of both traditional and contemporary music and expanding the cello repertoire through collaborations with leading composers.
Yukiko Yamashita-Developmental Biologist unraveling the complex molecular choreography of stem cell division and investigating how factors such as aging affect the capacity of stem cells to replace specialized cells that are injured, infected, or wear out.
