The MacArthur Fellowship, also known as the Genius Award or MacArthur Fellows Program, is a $500,000 US Dollar (USD) award given the MacArthur Foundation to a number of people each year. The foundation was founded in 1978, and the first fellowships were awarded in 1981. Since then, it has been regarded as one of the most coveted fellowships to obtain, despite the fact that its application differs from that of many other granting programs. Nominees are typically those who have demonstrated exceptional promise in their field, which can span a variety of disciplines. Nominees have frequently demonstrated exceptional work in the past and are likely to be able to use fellowship funds to stimulate more creative work in the future.
A MacArthur Fellowship is not open to the general public. In fact, they have no chance of winning unless one of the people employed as nominators suggests them. Each year, the foundation enlists the help of a number of experts from various fields to nominate people they know, meet, or have heard of who might benefit from a MacArthur Fellowship and who deserve one because of extraordinary creativity or potential that could have a significant positive impact on the world. Every year, a selection committee and the foundation’s president evaluate all of the people who have been nominated. They make the final decision on who should receive the award. The number of people who receive the award each year varies, but it usually exceeds 20. Any nominee must be a legal resident of the United States or a citizen of the United States in addition to possessing “genius.”
A MacArthur Fellowship nomination is usually kept private. The recipients of the award are frequently unaware that they have been nominated. Rising stars in a variety of fields may hope for a nomination, but there’s no way of knowing for sure, especially if the award isn’t won.
Another unique feature of the MacArthur Fellowship is that recipients are not required to show any results as a result of receiving it. They are not required to create a specific type of work. Furthermore, their continued eligibility for a fellowship, which is paid out in five $100,000 USD increments, is not contingent on performance. Even without such restrictions, many people who receive this award are chosen for their exceptional creative potential, and a number of them become well-known and contribute significantly to their fields. This is clear from a list of a few people who have received the MacArthur Fellowship. Robert Penn Warren, Stephen Jay Gould, Harold Bloom, Thomas Pynchon, Sarah Sze, and Cynthia Moss are among the recipients of the genius grant.