NP - MacArthur Foundation names 'genius grants'

[David Morris]

http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/10/24/genius.grants.ap/index.html

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Astrobiologist Christopher Chyba hasn't had much 
time to think about his new $500,000 "genius grant" -- the expert on the 
origins of life on Earth has been making recommendations to policy makers 
about preparations for a biological attack.

"I hope I can find a way to use this to help," said Chyba, the 41-year-old 
co-director of the Center for International Security and Cooperation at 
Stanford University.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced the 23 award 
winners Wednesday. Among them are two acclaimed writers, an expert on human 
rights in China, a Kenyan naturalist, a concert pianist, a pilot who 
researches Mexico's wildlife and a scholar on punishment in classical 
Athens.

"These are people who provide the imagination and fresh ideas that can 
improve people's lives and bring about movement on important issues," said 
Jonathan Fanton, the foundation's president.

The MacArthur Fellows will each receive the no-strings-attached funding over 
the next five years. The announcement of the winners was delayed from 
September 19 because of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Sandra Lanham, the pilot researcher from Tucson, Arizona, said she was 
surprised to receive the award and doesn't consider herself a genius.

"Not one of my qualities. In my case, it's subgenius," said the 53-year-old 
founder of Environmental Flying Services. "My friends would all laugh."

Lanham often flies her 1956 Cessna over Mexico for four to six hours a day, 
gathering research on marine and desert ecology. Her work, used mostly by 
the Mexican government or U.S. nonprofit companies that work in Mexico, 
helps protect endangered species.

Rosanne Haggerty, 41, founder and executive director of Common Ground in New 
York, renovates old hotels in Manhattan into housing for homeless and 
low-income adults. She isn't sure how she will spend her money but plans to 
use it to continue her work.

"It's a wonderful problem to have," Haggerty said. "It's a lot to live up 
to."

Other winners include Baltimore psychiatrist Kay Redfield Jamison, 55, who 
used examples in her own life to write about depression, suicide and other 
mood disorders in such books as "Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide" 
and "An Unquiet Mind."

An award also went to Jean Strouse, 56, of New York, who has written 
acclaimed biographies of Alice James, the younger sister of William and 
Henry James, and legendary Wall Street financier J.P. Morgan.

The youngest fellow this year is Danielle Allen of Chicago. At 29, she holds 
two doctorates and has written a book about the theory and practice of 
punishment in classical Athens. She wants to use some of her grant money to 
write a book about citizenship.

"It's pretty staggering," said Allen, an associate professor at the 
University of Chicago. "It's very exciting, there's no question about it."

Grant winners are nominated anonymously. A 12-member selection committee 
then makes recommendations to directors of the foundation, which began the 
fellows program in 1981. The foundation does not require or expect specific 
projects from the fellows, nor does it ask for reports on how the money is 
used.

Lanham, the pilot, said she plans to use the grant to continue her work 
monitoring species that are endangered or in need of protection.

"This just takes an enormous (financial) weight off of me," she said.


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