Education

Higher Education’s MacArthur Fellows: The 2019 Class


The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has announced the 26 winners of this year’s MacArthur Fellowships, generally regarded as one of the nation’s most prestigious awards for intellectual and artistic achievement. The award carries a $625,000 stipend, paid over five years with no strings attached on how recipients can spend the money.

In making the announcement, John Palfrey, president of the foundation, said, “…this year’s 26 extraordinary MacArthur Fellows demonstrate the power of individual creativity to reframe old problems, spur reflection, create new knowledge, and better the world for everyone.”

As in prior years, scholars, artists and scientists from the halls of academia are well-represented. Twenty of the 26 recipients work at an American college or university. Here they are, and biographical sketches can be found here.

Elizabeth Anderson is the John Dewey Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy and Women’s Studies at the University of Michigan. Anderson examines the role that institutions and social practices play in enhancing or limiting equality.

Lynda Barry is associate professor in the Department of Art at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She is a cartoonist and graphic novelist.

Danielle Citron is professor of law at Boston University. She examines cyber harassment and other abuses occurring in on-line environments.

Annie Dorson has served as a visiting assistant professor with the University of Chicago’s Committee on Theatre and Performance Studies. She experiments with “algorithmic theater,” which dramatizes the interaction between machines and humans.

Andrea Dutton is a visiting associate professor in the Department of Geoscience at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She researches global warming and its effects on sea levels.

Jeffrey Gibson is an artist-in-residence at the Studio Arts Program at Bard College where he specializes in Native American art.

Mary Halvorson is an instructor at the The New School in New York City. She is a guitarist and composer who crosses various musical genres including jazz, rock and folk.

Saidiya Hartman is a professor at Columbia University where she specializes in African American literature and history.

Walter Hood is professor of landscape architecture and environmental planning and urban design at the University of California, Berkeley. Renown for creating sustainable urban spaces that honor community histories, he transforms traffic islands, abandoned lots and freeway underpasses into artistic spaces.

Zachary Lippman is the Jacob Goldfield Professor of Genetics at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. A plant biologist, Lippman studies the genetics of flower production to optimize plant and leaf development.

Valeria Luiselli is writer in residence at Bard College’s program in written arts. Writing in both English and Spanish, she hybridizes fiction and essays, often exploring themes of dislocation.

Kelly Lytle Hernandez is a historian at UCLA where she directs the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies. Her work concentrates on incarceration policies and immigrant detention practices in the United States, particularly the U.S. Border Patrol.

Jeffrey Miller is an associate professor in the Department of English at Montclair State University. He is a Milton scholar, focusing on political and cultural debates that influenced Milton and his contemporaries.

Jerry Mitrovica is the Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard. He investigates the dynamics of the earth’s crust and mantle as they are influenced by glaciers and, in turn, affect sea levels.

Emmanuel Pratt held academic appointments at Chicago State University and the University of Michigan until 2019. Currently, he is a visiting lecturer at the University of Chicago’s Environmental and Urban Studies Program. He designs urban agricultural sites in what were previously abandoned buildings and vacant lots.

Vanessa Ruta is the Gabrielle H. and Herbert J. Kayden Associate Professor at Rockefeller University’s Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Behavior. She studies how the brain processes sensory information and directs behavioral responses.

Joshua Tenenbaum is a professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. He uses computational modeling and behavioral experimentation to investigate human perception and learning and the implications of those abilities for artificial intelligence.

Jenny Tung is an associate professor in the Departments of Biology and Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University. She investigates the interactions of genomics and social experiences as they impact health and longevity.

Ocean Vuong is an assistant professor in the MFA Program at the University of Massachusetts. A poet and novelist, he is the author of the highly acclaimed On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous.

Emily Wilson is a professor in the Departments of Classical Studies and Comparative Literature and Literary theory at the University of Pennsylvania. She translates ancient texts, allowing us, in her own words, “to read old stories with fresh eyes.”

The MacArthur awards are a tribute to human greatness, awarded for stunning accomplishments that push forward the frontiers of human knowledge and creativity. But they are also a confirmation of the immense value of American universities, particularly those that remain committed to giving very talented people the freedom and the resources to explore whatever they choose. Our universities stand out as hot-house environments unrivaled for the nurturance of grand creations and big ideas.



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