The award given to inductees of the MacArthur Fellows program is commonly referred to as a genius grant. The genius grant, which has been given out every year since 1981, is a mysterious award that provides financial support to accepted nominees in the hopes of stimulating and encouraging their careers. Poets, playwrights, molecular biologists, anthropologists, mathematicians, and composers are among the many MacArthur fellows who have received the award.
The MacArthur Foundation is a large organization based in Chicago that offers a variety of grant programs. John and Catherine MacArthur, the organization’s founders, were a highly successful married couple who founded it to promote creativity in a variety of fields. Although the MacArthur Foundation’s majority of grants are awarded after a lengthy application and review process, the genius grant process is a little more complicated.
To an outside observer, the process of receiving a genius grant is somewhat enigmatic. A nominating committee of about 100 experts recommends potential grant recipients. The board selects a group of recipients from among the nominees, usually between 20 and 40 people. Winners are notified by phone and are usually unaware that they have been nominated. According to the MacArthur Foundation, winners are informed that the monetary award is given to encourage continued creativity and excellence, rather than being based on specific past achievements or given with the expectation of future remuneration.
The term “genius grant” comes from popular usage and is not the MacArthur Foundation’s preferred term. The grant is not based on IQ tests or any other form of intelligence measurement, even though recipients are usually recognized as exceptional talents in their fields. This can cause some consternation, as some recipients have stated that they are expected to be experts in everything from theoretical physics to board games, despite the fact that their genius grant was given in recognition of choreographic ability.
The MacArthur Foundation’s genius grant recipients have a long track record of success and accomplishment. Filmmaker John Sayles, whose celebrated work as a screenwriter and director spans decades and genres, was a previous recipient. In 1984, a genius grant was awarded to Robert Payne, a renowned zoologist and conservationist who discovered the pattern and characteristics of humpback whale song. Physician D. Holmes Morton, a doctor dedicated to the advancement of children’s medicine and already well-known for his studies on the genetic diseases of children in Amish and Mennonite communities, was a MacArthur fellow in 2006.