Artists & Performers Awarded MacArthur Fellows 2007

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today named 24 new MacArthur Fellows for 2007. The new Fellows work across a broad spectrum of endeavors. They include a biomedical scientist, a blues musician, a forensic anthropologist, an inventor, a medieval historian, and a spider silk biologist. All were selected for their creativity, originality, and potential to make important contributions in the future. This past week, the recipients learned in a phone call from the Foundation that they will each receive $500,000 in "no strings attached" support over the next five years.

MacArthur Fellowships offers the opportunity for Fellows to accelerate their current activities or take their work in new directions. The unusual level of independence afforded to Fellows underscores the spirit of freedom intrinsic to creative endeavors. The imagination of MacArthur Fellows knows neither boundaries nor the constraints of age, place and field.

The inaugural class of MacArthur Fellows was named in 1981. Including this year's Fellows, 756 people, ranging in age from 18 to 82 at the time of their selection, have been named MacArthur Fellows since the inception of the program.

The selection process begins with formal nominations. Hundreds of anonymous nominators assist the Foundation in identifying people to be considered for a MacArthur Fellowship. Nominations are accepted only from invited nominators, a list that is constantly renewed throughout the year. They are chosen from many fields and challenged to identify people who demonstrate exceptional creativity and promise. A 12 member Selection Committee, whose members also serve anonymously, meets regularly to review files, narrow the list, and make final recommendations to the Foundation's Board of Directors. The number of Fellows selected each year is not fixed; typically, it varies between 20 and 25.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private, independent grant-making institution dedicated to building a more just and sustainable world. Through the support it provides, the Foundation fosters the development of knowledge, nurtures individual creativity, helps strengthen institutions, helps improve public policy, and provides information to the public, primarily through support for public interest media. With an endowment over $6.4 billion, the Foundation makes grants totaling approximately $225 million each year. For more information or to sign-up for MacArthur's e-newsletter, visit www.macfound.org.

Recipients include:

Deborah Bial
Posse Foundation
New York, New York
Born: 1965
Education Strategist addressing the challenges of college access for underrepresented populations by identifying and fostering latent talent and reframing college admissions into a more inclusive process.

Peter Cole
Ibis Editions
Jerusalem, Israel
Born: 1957
Translator/Poet/Publisher offering a unique vision of the cultural, religious, and linguistic interactions that were and are possible among peoples of the Middle East.

Lisa Cooper
Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health
Baltimore, Maryland
Born: 1963
Public Health Physician improving the quality of medical care for minorities in the United States by analyzing and developing new approaches to patient-physician communication.

Ruth DeFries
University of Maryland / College Park
College Park, Maryland
Born: 1956
Environmental Geographer combining remote satellite imagery and a deep understanding of the environmental effects of agriculture and urbanization to illuminate key processes transforming our planet.

Mercedes Doretti
Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team
Brooklyn, New York
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Born: 1958
Forensic Anthropologist unearthing evidence of crimes against humanity and seeking justice on behalf of populations whose immense losses have been omitted from the historical record.

Stuart Dybek
Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois
Born: 1942
Short Story Writer paying tribute to the literature and iconography of the Old World while exploring the imaginations of contemporary American communities.

Marc Edwards
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg, Virginia
Born: 1964
Water Quality Engineer analyzing the chemistry and toxicity of drinking water supplies in America's largest cities and making critical contributions to an often-neglected area of public safety.

Michael Elowitz
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, California
Born: 1970
Molecular Biologist laying the groundwork for the next stage of the genomics revolution - understanding how genes interact.

Saul Griffith
Squid Labs
Emeryville, California
Born: 1974
Inventor engineering innovations spanning optics, high-performance materials, and nanotechnology in the service of the world community.

Sven Haakanson
Alutiiq Museum
Kodiak, Alaska
Born: 1966
Curator/Anthropologist/Preservationist reviving and giving contemporary meaning to indigenous languages, customs, and culture in an isolated region of North America.

Corey Harris
Unaffiliated
Charlottesville, Virginia
Born: 1969
Blues Musician leading a revival of Mississippi Delta blues by infusing traditional styles with influences from jazz, reggae gospel, and African and Caribbean folk styles.

Cheryl Hayashi
University of California / Riverside
Riverside, California
Born: 1967
Spider Silk Biologist integrating the understanding of spider phylogenetics and the development of such biomimetic materials as biodegradable fishing lines, sutures, and protective armor cloth.

My Hang Huynh
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos, New Mexico
Born: 1962
Chemist developing novel techniques for synthesizing highly energetic compounds, such as explosives, that substitute benign elements for environmentally toxic heavy metals and improve the safety of workers and military personnel who handle these materials.

Claire Kremen
University of California / Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Born: 1960
Conservation Biologist exploring the behavior of bees and other natural pollinators and their critical but often overlooked role in the global food web.

Whitfield Lovell
Unaffiliated
New York, New York
Born: 1959
Painter/Installation Artist paying tribute to the daily lives of anonymous African-Americans through poetic and intricately constructed tableaux.

Yoky Matsuoka
University of Washington / Seattle
Seattle, Washington
Born: 1971
Neuroroboticist devising complex prosthetic devices and rehabilitation strategies that hold life-changing potential for those suffering from brain injuries and manipulation disabilities.

Lynn Nottage
Unaffiliated
Brooklyn, New York
Born: 1964
Playwright exploring periods of American history from unexpected vantage points and addressing some of society's most complex issues with empathy and humor.

Mark Roth
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Seattle, Washington
Born: 1957
Biomedical Scientist experimenting with new procedures for temporary reduction in metabolism that may one day extend the time available to surgeons to perform critical, live-saving procedures.

Paul Rothemund
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, California
Born: 1972
Nanotechnologist folding DNA to create complex shapes and patterns that provide a platform for building circuits, molecular switches, and other nanodevices of the future.

Jay Rubenstein
University of Tennessee / Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee
Born: 1967
Medieval Historian shining vivid light on how violent events such as the First Crusade are recorded and remembered by future generations.

Jonathan Shay
Department of Veteran Affairs Outpatient Clinic
Boston, Massachusetts
Born: 1941
Clinical Psychiatrist/Classicist drawing parallels between ancient texts and the experiences of Vietnam veterans that deepen our understanding of the effects of warfare on individuals highlight the role of military policy in promoting the physical and mental safety of soldiers.

Joan Snyder
Unaffiliated
Brooklyn, New York
Born: 1940
Painter creating fiercely individual, abstract paintings that are rooted in memory and convey universal and readily understood emotions.

Dawn Upshaw
Unaffiliated
Bronxville, New York
Born: 1960
Master Vocalist stretching the boundaries of operatic and concert singing and enriching the landscape of contemporary performance through her advocacy of established and emerging composers.

Shen Wei
Shen Wei Dance Arts
New York, New York
Born: 1968
Choreographer drawing from Western dance traditions as well as Chinese opera, acrobatics, and martial arts to create bold and visually arresting dance-theater.