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30m ago

MacArthur Foundation Names 22 Fellows for 2025, Each to Receive $800,000

Foundation leaders emphasize empathy with deep community ties across disciplines.

Fiction writer and MacArthur Fellow Tommy Orange sits for a portrait.
University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Ángel F. Adames Corraliza works on calculations in his office at the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences in Madison, Wis., Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)
A view of the Marquette Building, which houses the MacArthur Foundation headquarters.
Artist Tonika Lewis Johnson and local resident Justine Stephens, right, stand for portrait in the 6500-block of South Aberdeen Street in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood, on Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Talia Sprague)

Overview

  • The 2025 cohort spans arts, sciences, and humanities, with recipients including photographer Tonika Lewis Johnson, novelist Tommy Orange, filmmaker Garrett Bradley, and photographer Matt Black.
  • Johnson, a Chicago artist from Englewood, is recognized for participatory projects like the Folded Map Project and unBlocked Englewood that surface housing inequities, and she plans to use initial funds for new equipment and continued community work.
  • Fellows are selected through a multi-year, confidential nomination and vetting process in which candidates do not apply, with reviews by an independent selection committee.
  • Each award provides $800,000 in unrestricted support paid over five years, enabling recipients to advance research, creative practice, and locally rooted projects.
  • About half of this year's winners hold academic appointments, with 12 of the 22 fellows affiliated with colleges or universities.