Scientists, Artists Dominate MacArthur 'Genius' Grants

25 innovators receive this year's $500 prizes

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 23, 2008 2:29 PM CDT

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Scientists, Artists Dominate MacArthur 'Genius' Grants — A relief print created by rubber bands, top, by New York artist Tara Donovan is seen on display in the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, Wednesday, June 6, 2007. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)

Of the 25 recipients of this year's MacArthur Foundation "genius award," 13 are scientists and eight are artists, the New York Times reports. This year, they are “people working on the very edge of discovery and people at the edge of a new synthesis,” says the foundation’s president. Among the winners:

Tara Donovan, sculptor of drinking straws and paper clips
Alex Ross, New Yorker music critic
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nigerian novelist

Andrea Ghez, telescope designer
Mary A. Jackson, grass sculptor
Regina M. Benjamin, family doctor in rural Alabama
Wafaa El-Sadr, AIDS researcher
Jennifer Tipton, lighting designer

For the full list, click the link below.
(More innovation stories.)

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