Associated Press
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
The list of 24 fellows announced by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; each will receive $500,000 over the next five years:
¿ Deborah Bial, 42, founder and president, Posse Foundation, New York. Bial's organization helps colleges identify promising high-schoolers through means other than the traditional methods of grade point average and exam scores. Students then join a small group, or "posse," giving them a supportive social network once they reach campus.
¿ Peter Cole, 50, co-founder and co-editor, Ibis Editions, Jerusalem. Cole is a poet, publisher and translator who specializes in translating works from medieval Spain and the modern Middle East into English.
¿ Lisa Cooper, 44, professor, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore. Cooper is a physician who has studied the role race, sex and ethnicity play in the doctor-patient relationship.
¿ Ruth DeFries, 50, professor, University of Maryland, College Park. DeFries is an environmental geographer who uses remotely sensed satellite imagery to study how human society transforms the landscape and how that interacts with the life support system of the Earth.
¿ Mercedes Doretti, 48, co-founder, Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team, Brooklyn, N.Y., and Buenos Aires. Doretti is a forensic anthropologist, and her group applies forensic sciences to the investigation of human rights violations.
¿ Stuart Dybek, 65, distinguished writer in residence, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill. The author of three short-story collections, Dybek often tells tales set in Chicago's ethnic neighborhoods. Among his books is 2003's "I Sailed With Magellan."
¿ Marc Edwards, 43, professor, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va. Edwards's environmental-engineering research focuses on ensuring safe drinking water and exposing deteriorating water-delivery infrastructure in the country's largest urban areas.
¿ Michael Elowitz, 37, assistant professor, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. Elowitz is a molecular biologist working to understand how genes interact.
¿ Saul Griffith, 33, co-founding partner, Squid Labs, Emeryville, Calif. Griffith is an inventor who holds several patents in optics, textiles and nanotechnology.
¿ Sven Haakanson, 40, executive director, Alutiiq Museum, Kodiak, Alaska. Haakanson is working to revitalize the Alutiiq language, culture and customs.
¿ Corey Harris, 38, blues musician, Charlottesville. A singer and guitarist, Harris is part of a contemporary revival of country blues.
¿ Cheryl Hayashi, 40, associate professor, University of California, Riverside. Biologist Hayashi's research into the architecture, structure and function of spider silks could contribute to the development of new synthetic materials.
¿ My Hang Huynh, 45, chemist, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, N.M. Huynh's research is at the boundary of organic and inorganic chemistry and seeks to improve the safety of miners and military workers, as well as air bag design.
¿ Claire Kremen, 46, assistant professor, University of California, Berkeley. A conservation biologist, Kremen has led a conservation planning initiative in Madagascar's largest nature reserve.
¿ Whitfield Lovell, 47, painter/installation artist, New York. Lovell's work, intended to give identity and dignity to anonymous black Americans depicted in old tintypes, photographs and postcards, is a blend of contemporary art as well as folk and vernacular art.
¿ Yoky Matsuoka, 36, associate professor, University of Washington, Seattle. Matsuoka is a leader in the field of neuro-robotics and is making advances that could change the lives of those suffering from serious brain injuries.
¿ Lynn Nottage, 42, playwright, Brooklyn, N.Y. Nottage's works include "Crumbs From the Table of Joy," "Mud River Stone" and the prize-winning "Intimate Apparel," a story of a young black seamstress in the early 20th century.
¿ Mark Roth, 49, scientist, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle. Roth's research into temporarily reducing metabolism could open new avenues for treatment of trauma, stroke and cancer.
¿ Paul Rothemund, 35, senior research fellow, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. Rothemund's research focuses on the fabrication of large molecules that reliably self-assemble into complex, programmable shapes.
¿ Jay Rubenstein, 40, associate professor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville. A medieval historian, Rubenstein has researched accounts of the Crusades; his essays examine how the events affected Europe's political, religious and literary culture.
¿ Jonathan Shay, 65, staff psychiatrist, Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic, Boston. Shay's treatment of Vietnam veterans, along with two books using the ancient heroes Achilles and Odysseus to examine the universality of wartime experiences, has deepened understanding of the effects of combat on soldiers.
¿ Joan Snyder, 67, painter, Brooklyn, N.Y. Over four decades, abstract painter Snyder has continually experimented with techniques and materials, inspiring a generation of artists.
¿ Dawn Upshaw, 47, master vocalist, Bronxville, N.Y. Upshaw's repertoire includes the major opera roles of Mozart, the sacred works of Bach, modern works, American popular songs and new music.
¿ Shen Wei, 39, founder and artistic director, Shen Wei Dance Arts, New York. Shen combines Eastern traditions of Chinese opera, acrobatics and material arts with Western influences to create a unique dance language.
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