He is an inorganic chemist working in the field of semiconductor nanowires and nanowire photonics.
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Perhaps you are. But only 24 people woke up this morning with the official stamp of the “genius award”, the annual fellowships awarded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
“When I first got the call from the MacArthur foundation I was ecstatic”, Coates said in a video on the foundation website.
“There was a odd and kind of scary voicemail: ‘I have an urgent matter to speak to you about, ‘ ” she recalled. The fellowship bestows upon its recipients a $625,000 prize, along with an accolade that manages to celebrate innovative minds across fields, from science to poetry to painting, and just about everything in between. Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote the Tony-winning “In the Heights” (2007) along with the wildly popular “Hamilton“, in which he also stars.
Journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates, whose writings about racial politics and the African American experience have propelled him to the forefront of a new generation of cultural critics and social justice advocates.
Click on the audio player above to hear this interview. “We kind of want to catch them before they really make it”, she said. & Catherine T. MacArthur CEO of the Ashesi University College Patrick Awuah.
Kartik Chandran Associate Professor, Dept. of Earth and Environmental Engineering at Columbia University, New York, NY. The Virginia resident engages environmental scientists, medical professionals and institutions in discussions of sustainability and climate change as they are related to health care.
Matthew Desmond, 35, Cambridge, Mass.: “Urban sociologist revealing the impact of eviction on poor families and the role of housing policy in sustaining poverty and racial inequality in large American cities”. A dancer and choreographer reinvigorating tap dancing by combining its musicality with the intricacies of contemporary dance.
— William Dichtel, 37, Ithaca, New York.
Mimi Lien is a set designer for theater, opera, and dance who has designed sets for numerous productions, including “An Octoroon”, “Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812”, and “The Whale”.
Not every New York victor is in the arts.
The 2015 winners have studied everything from the brain to prehistoric Greek societies. A computational biologist at the University of Chicago, Novembre’s work has shed new light on the study of human evolution, migration and the cause of the genetic diseases.
Juan Salgado, 46, Chicago: “Community Leader creating a model for workforce development and training among immigrant communities through a holistic approach that addresses language skills, education, and other barriers to entering the workforce”.
A stem cell biologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Studer has pioneered research that could provide treatment for Parkinson’s disease and perhaps other neurodegenerative diseases.
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A 59-year-old executive director and founder of Adaptive Design Association, Inc., the New York resident creates low-tech and affordable tools that help children with disabilities in everyday activities in their homes, schools and communities.
