MacArthur Foundation announces 2024 class of Fellows
- gabkelly240
- Mar 6, 2025
- 2 min read
22 visionary individuals awarded $800,000 grants in recognition of innovative work across arts, sciences, social justice and more
CHICAGO (October 1, 2024) – Today, the MacArthur Foundation announced the 2024 class of MacArthur Fellows, honoring 22 exceptional individuals for their creativity and groundbreaking contributions across a variety of disciplines. From science and technology to social justice and the arts, this year’s Fellows are recognized for their ability to shape the future through innovative work. Each recipient will receive an $800,000, no-strings-attached grant to support their continued impact.
Fellows are chosen through a confidential nomination process that draws from a wide range of experts in different fields. There are no applications or interviews. Instead, nominees are evaluated based on their creative accomplishments and their potential to continue making significant contributions. This year’s Fellows include a climate scientist developing solutions for sustainability, an artist pushing the boundaries of representation and identity, and a justice reform advocate reshaping national policy. With this support, the MacArthur Foundation encourages these innovators to keep challenging norms and driving change.
Marlies Carruth, the director of MacArthur Fellows, spoke about the fellowship: “The 2024 MacArthur Fellows pursue rigorous inquiry with aspiration and purpose. They expose biases built into emerging technologies and social systems and fill critical gaps in the knowledge of cycles that sustain life on Earth. Their work highlights our shared humanity, centering the agency of disabled people, the humor and histories of Indigenous communities, the emotional lives of adolescents, and perspectives of rural Americans.”
The prestigious Fellowship is rooted in a philosophy that emphasizes trust in its recipients. By offering unparalleled freedom to shape the future of their work in meaningful ways, the grant is intentionally no-strings-attached. Here are some highlights to note:
The MacArthur Fellowship is intended to provide financial support for intellectual, social, and artistic projects.
They believe that motivated, self-directed and talented individuals are best equipped to determine how to use their time and resources.
By implementing a “no-strings-attached” policy, the Fellowship offers recipients maximum freedom to pursue their creative visions
Fellows can choose to continue their current work, broaden the scope of their efforts, or explore entirely new endeavors.
There are no restrictions on how the funds are used, and recipients are not required to submit any reports.
About the MacArthur Foundation
The MacArthur Foundation boldly invests in creative solutions to urgent challenges, sparking hope for our future. We work on a few big bets that strive toward transformative change in areas of profound concern, including the existential threats of climate change and nuclear risk, the challenges of criminal justice reform in the U.S. and corruption in Nigeria. In addition, we maintain enduring commitments in our hometown Chicago, where we invest in people, places, and partnerships to build a more inclusive Chicago and in journalism and media, where we invest in more just and inclusive news and narratives. We also make awards to extraordinarily creative individuals through the MacArthur Fellows program and for solutions to critical problems of our time through 100&Change.
Contact: Gabby Kelly
Public Relations Manager
MacArthur Foundation
(312) 726-8000
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