The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced its 2026 cohort of fellows on Tuesday, naming 20 scholars, artists and scientists who will each receive an $800,000 grant with no strings attached. The prestigious awards, widely known as "genius grants," are distributed over five years and come with no requirements on how recipients must spend the money.
This year's class spans an unusually broad range of disciplines, from organic chemistry and labor economics to forensic anthropology and public art. Yet the foundation's selection network identified a common thread running through many of the honorees: a commitment to confronting some of society's most entrenched problems, whether racial inequality, climate policy, migration or the human need for connection and healing.
Among the most prominent names on the list is Ellora Derenoncourt, a labor economist and economic historian who studies the persistent wage gaps between racial groups in the United States. Her research has helped document how historical forces, including discrimination and unequal access to opportunity, continue to shape contemporary economic outcomes. The fellowship will give her the freedom to pursue new lines of inquiry without the pressure of securing traditional research funding.
Another recipient, forensic anthropologist Kate Spradley, has devoted her career to identifying and repatriating the remains of migrants who died along the Texas-Mexico border. Her work combines rigorous scientific method with a humanitarian mission, offering closure to families whose loved ones vanished during border crossings. Spradley's selection underscores the foundation's willingness to recognize work that often unfolds far from public view.
The 2026 class also includes Christine Sun Kim, a visual and sound artist whose practice explores the nature of communication and the experience of deafness. Kim's installations and performances challenge audiences to reconsider assumptions about sound, language and accessibility. The foundation noted that her work, alongside that of philosopher and cognitive scientist Felipe De Brigard and novelist Bryan Washington, examines human connection and healing from radically different creative vantage points.
Climate change features prominently in this year's cohort. Holly Jean Buck, a sociologist at the University at Buffalo, focuses on the ethical and political dimensions of climate policy. In her 2019 book "After Geoengineering," Buck argued that carbon removal systems should be designed to serve local communities and the public interest rather than corporate profit. Her inclusion signals the foundation's recognition that technological responses to climate change raise profound questions about justice and governance.
Song Lin, an organic chemist, represents the pure-science wing of the cohort. His research likely advances new methods for building molecules, work with potential applications in medicine, materials and energy. The fellowship provides scientists like Lin with the kind of unrestricted support that can accelerate risky, high-reward experiments that conventional grants often decline to fund.
Public artist Chip Thomas, known for large-scale installations that engage with communities and history, rounds out the visual artists in the group. Thomas's practice often involves placing art in unexpected public spaces, turning everyday environments into sites of reflection and dialogue.
The MacArthur Fellowships have been awarded since 1981 and are among the most coveted honors in American intellectual and creative life. Unlike many major prizes, they are not awarded for a specific achievement or body of work already completed. Instead, the foundation's anonymous network of nominators and evaluators looks for individuals who demonstrate exceptional creativity and the potential for important future contributions.
That forward-looking criterion explains why the list frequently includes people whose biggest breakthroughs may still lie ahead. The $800,000 stipend, paid quarterly over five years, is intended to buy recipients time and freedom. Past fellows have used the money to take sabbaticals, launch new projects, support family members or simply continue working without the constant scramble for funding.
The foundation does not accept applications or nominations from the public. Its selection process remains deliberately opaque, with a rotating group of experts identifying candidates across fields that range from the arts and humanities to the sciences and social advocacy. The result is a class that often surprises observers, mixing well-known figures with individuals whose work has been recognized mainly within their own disciplines.
This year's cohort arrives at a moment of intense public debate over inequality, climate policy, immigration and the role of art in civic life. The foundation's choices suggest an interest in people who are not merely studying these issues but actively engaging with them, often at personal cost. Spradley's border work and Buck's climate research, for instance, place their recipients in the middle of some of the most contested conversations in the country.
For the artists in the group, the grant offers something rare: financial stability without the obligation to produce a particular kind of work. Kim's sound-based practice and Thomas's public installations are not easily monetized, and the fellowship may allow them to undertake ambitious projects that would otherwise be impossible.
The full list of 20 fellows reflects the foundation's broad definition of genius. It includes historians and chemists, novelists and policy scholars, artists and anthropologists. What unites them, according to the foundation, is a track record of original thinking and the promise of more to come. Each will now have five years and $800,000 to see where that promise leads.
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