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MacArthur Fellows Program

Annual prize by the MacArthur Foundation

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
24 min read
Source updated August 20, 2026

The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and 30 individuals working in any field who have shown "extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction" and are citizens or residents of the United States.

According to the foundation's website, "the fellowship is not a reward for past accomplishments but rather an investment in a person's originality, insight, and potential", but it also says such potential is "based on a track record of significant accomplishments". The amount of the prize is $800,000 paid over five years in quarterly installments. Previously, it was $625,000. This figure was increased from $500,000 in 2013 upon the release of a review of the MacArthur Fellows Program. The award has been called "one of the most significant awards that is truly 'no strings attached'".

The program does not accept applications. Anonymous and confidential nominations are invited by the foundation and reviewed by an anonymous and confidential selection committee of about a dozen people. The committee reviews all nominees and recommends recipients to the president and board of directors. Most new fellows learn of their nomination and award upon receiving a congratulatory phone call. MacArthur Fellow Jim Collins described this experience in an editorial column of The New York Times.

01Recipients

As of 2025, since the award's inception in 1981, 1,175 people have been named MacArthur Fellows, ranging in age from 18 to 82.

In the five broad categories defined by the foundation, the breakdown for recipient focus is as follows: Arts 336; Humanities 170; Public Issues 257; STEM 335; and Social Sciences 120.

Robert Penn Warren
Robert Penn Warren

021981

031982

041983

051984

061985

John Sayles
John Sayles

071986

081987

091988

101989

111990

121991

Michael H. Freedman
Michael H. Freedman

131992

141993

151994

161995

171996

181997

Marian Wright Edelman
Marian Wright Edelman

191998

201999

212000

222001

232002

242003

Jack Horner
Jack Horner

252004

262005

272006

282007

292008

302009

Robert Sapolsky
Robert Sapolsky

312010

322011

332012

342013

352014

362015

Max Roach
Max Roach

372016

382017

392018

402019

412020

422021

Errol Morris
Errol Morris

432022

442023

452024

462025

47Educational background of recipients

Of the 965 terminal degrees earned by 928 fellows during the period 1981 through 2018, 540 (56%) are doctorates, with the Ph.D. accounting for 514 (53.3%). Ivy league schools awarded 306 (31.7%) degrees to 300 (32.3%) fellows.

The award is made to individuals of varying educational background but among the 1131 fellowship awards through the class of 2023, the following ten institutions have the most alumni fellows (a comparatively smaller school, California Institute of Technology had the most per capita, whereas the large Harvard University had the most overall.)

Institution 1131 Fellows (1981-2023):
Harvard/Radcliffe 188
Yale 95
Berkeley 78
Princeton 71
Columbia/Barnard 65
MIT 48
Caltech 43
Stanford 41
Chicago 40
Cornell 38
Oxford 35
Watch videos about MacArthur Fellows ProgramExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “MacArthur Fellows Program”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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