Scientists, Artists Dominate MacArthur 'Genius' Grants

25 innovators receive this year's $500 prizes
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 23, 2008 2:29 PM CDT
Scientists, Artists Dominate MacArthur 'Genius' Grants
A relief print created by rubber bands, top, by New York artist Tara Donovan is seen on display in the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, Wednesday, June 6, 2007.    (AP Photo/Sang Tan)

Of the 25 recipients of this year's MacArthur Foundation "genius award," 13 are scientists and eight are artists, the New York Times reports. This year, they are “people working on the very edge of discovery and people at the edge of a new synthesis,” says the foundation’s president.  Among the winners:

  • Tara Donovan, sculptor of drinking straws and paper clips
  • Alex Ross, New Yorker music critic
  • Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nigerian novelist

  • Andrea Ghez, telescope designer
  • Mary A. Jackson, grass sculptor
  • Regina M. Benjamin, family doctor in rural Alabama
  • Wafaa El-Sadr, AIDS researcher
  • Jennifer Tipton, lighting designer
For the full list, click the link below.
(More innovation stories.)

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