MacArthur Fellows Program
The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and 30 individuals working in any field who have shown "extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction" and are citizens or residents of the United States.
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MacArthur Fellows Program
The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and 30 individuals working in any field who have shown "extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction" and are citizens or residents of the United States.
According to the foundation's website, "the fellowship is not a reward for past accomplishments but rather an investment in a person's originality, insight, and potential", but it also says such potential is "based on a track record of significant accomplishments". The amount of the prize is $800,000 paid over five years in quarterly installments. Previously, it was $625,000. This figure was increased from $500,000 in 2013 upon the release of a review of the MacArthur Fellows Program. The award has been called "one of the most significant awards that is truly 'no strings attached'".
The program does not accept applications. Anonymous and confidential nominations are invited by the foundation and reviewed by an anonymous and confidential selection committee of about a dozen people. The committee reviews all nominees and recommends recipients to the president and board of directors. Most new fellows learn of their nomination and award upon receiving a congratulatory phone call. MacArthur Fellow Jim Collins described this experience in an editorial column of The New York Times.
Recipients
MacArthur Fellows Program
As of 2025, since the award's inception in 1981, 1,175 people have been named MacArthur Fellows, ranging in age from 18 to 82.
In the five broad categories defined by the foundation, the breakdown for recipient focus is as follows: Arts 336; Humanities 170; Public Issues 257; STEM 335; and Social Sciences 120.
1981
MacArthur Fellows Program
Robert Penn Warren
1982
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Frank Wilczek
1983
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John Sayles
1984
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Michael H. Freedman
1985
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Marian Wright Edelman
1986
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Jack Horner
1987
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Robert Sapolsky
1989
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Errol Morris
1990
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Paul Ehrlich
1991
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Taylor Branch
1992
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Stephen Schneider
1993
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Amory Lovins
1994
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Ornette Coleman
1995
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Octavia Butler
1996
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Anna Deavere Smith
1997
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David Foster Wallace
1998
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Tim Berners-Lee
1999
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Alison Des Forges
2000
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Cecilia Muñoz
2002
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Colson Whitehead
2003
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Jim Yong Kim
2004
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C. D. Wright
2005
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Jonathan Lethem
2006
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Regina Carter
2008
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Regina Benjamin
2009
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Esther Duflo
2010
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Annette Gordon-Reed
2011
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Shwetak Patel
2012
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Junot Díaz
2013
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Tarell McCraney
2014
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Alison Bechdel
2015
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Ta-Nehisi Coates
2016
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Claudia Rankine
2017
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Jesmyn Ward
2018
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Doris Tsao
2019
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Lynda Barry
2020
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Jacqueline Woodson
2021
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Daniel Alarcón
2024
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Jason Reynolds
2025
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Garrett Bradley
Educational background of recipients
MacArthur Fellows Program
Of the 965 terminal degrees earned by 928 fellows during the period 1981 through 2018, 540 (56%) are doctorates, with the Ph.D. accounting for 514 (53.3%). Ivy league schools awarded 306 (31.7%) degrees to 300 (32.3%) fellows.
The award is made to individuals of varying educational background but among the 1131 fellowship awards through the class of 2023, the following ten institutions have the most alumni fellows (a comparatively smaller school, California Institute of Technology had the most per capita, whereas the large Harvard University had the most overall.)
<table><thead><tr><th>Institution</th><th>1131 Fellows (1981–2023):</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Harvard/Radcliffe</td><td>188</td></tr><tr><td>Yale</td><td>95</td></tr><tr><td>Berkeley</td><td>78</td></tr><tr><td>Princeton</td><td>71</td></tr><tr><td>Columbia/Barnard</td><td>65</td></tr><tr><td>MIT</td><td>48</td></tr><tr><td>Caltech</td><td>43</td></tr><tr><td>Stanford</td><td>41</td></tr><tr><td>Chicago</td><td>40</td></tr><tr><td>Cornell</td><td>38</td></tr><tr><td>Oxford</td><td>35</td></tr></tbody></table>