The MacArthur Foundation has announced its 2010 awardees and three African Americans were among the 23 MacArthur Fellows selected for this genius grant that is complemented by a $500,000 stipend, with no strings attached. According to the FAQs on the Web site, the fellowship is “a five-year grant to individuals who show exceptional creativity in their work and the prospect for still more in the future. The fellowship is designed to provide recipients with the flexibility to pursue their creative activities in the absence of specific obligations or reporting requirements. There are no limits on age or area of activity. Individuals cannot apply for this award; they must be nominated.”
The MacArthur Fellowship is designed to provide seed money for intellectual, social and artistic endeavors.
While it appears that this is a simple way to really kick-start your dream. You must ask yourself the following questions.
1. Have I selected my dream team (financial adviser, life coach, mentor, etc.)?
2. Am I in a position to be nominated for one of these grants to pursue my dream?
3. Do I know the right people to be nominated, since you can’t apply for this grant?
4. Have I written down my vision and do I follow it and update when necessary?
Check out this year’s African American fellows. –yvette caslin
Biophysicist
Age: 30
Associate Professor of Aeronautic and Bioengineering
Division of Engineering and Applied Science
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, Calif.
Jason Dabiri received a B.S.E. (2001) from Princeton University and an M.S. (2003) and Ph.D. (2005) from the California Institute of Technology, where he is currently an associate professor of aeronautics and bioengineering. His scientific articles have appeared in such journals asNature, the Journal of Fluid Mechanics, the Journal of Experimental Biology, and PNAS.
American Historian
Annette Gordon-Reed
Age: 51
Professor of Law
Harvard Law School
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Annette Gordon-Reed received an A.B. (1981) from Dartmouth College and a J.D. (1984) from Harvard Law School. In 2010, she joined the faculty of Harvard Law School, with joint appointments as Professor of History in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Carol K. Pforzheimer Professor at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. She was previously Wallace Stevens Professor of Law at New York Law School (1992–2010) and Board of Governors Professor of History at Rutgers University, Newark (2007–2010).
Jazz Pianist and Composer
Jason Moran
Age: 35
New York, New York
