Genius Unleashed: Meet the Visionaries Shaping 2025 and Beyond
Every year, the MacArthur Foundation ignites the world of creativity by announcing its newest class of Fellows—individuals whose brilliance and innovation push the boundaries of what’s possible. The 2025 list is here, and it’s nothing short of inspiring. Twenty-two extraordinary trailblazers have been chosen for their remarkable contributions across science, art, activism, and more. But here’s where it gets fascinating—each of them receives an $800,000 award, no strings attached. Yes, that’s right: total creative freedom to dream big and change the world.
So how does one earn what many call the coveted “genius grant”? According to Marlies Carruth, director of the MacArthur Fellows Program, it’s no simple feat. Candidates are quietly nominated, carefully reviewed, and sometimes considered for years before a decision is made. It’s a deeply confidential process built on one purpose—to invest in human potential.
And while these Fellows come from incredibly diverse walks of life—a cartographer, a neurobiologist, a composer, an astrophysicist—they share a common thread: relentless creativity, intellectual courage, and a drive to build something lasting. Carruth describes them as “thinkers, dreamers, and doers”—people whose ideas don’t just challenge convention but often rewrite it entirely.
Meet the 2025 MacArthur Fellows
Ángel F. Adames Corraliza – Atmospheric scientist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, whose research uncovers how tropical weather systems like monsoons and cyclones shape our planet’s climate.
Matt Black – Documentary photographer from California, capturing the harsh realities of poverty across America and making the bold claim that economic struggle is not an exception but a defining element of the national story.
Garrett Bradley – A visionary filmmaker from New Orleans exploring themes of justice, collective memory, and race through projects such as America (2019) and her Oscar-nominated documentary Time.
Heather Christian – Composer and playwright from New York whose work, including Terce: A Practical Breviary, explores how spirituality and art can coexist in modern life.
Nabarun Dasgupta – Epidemiologist at UNC Chapel Hill combating the opioid crisis with data, empathy, and innovation after losing a close friend to overdose years ago.
Kristina Douglass – Archaeologist at Columbia University studying Madagascar’s coastal communities and partnering with locals to balance cultural preservation and environmental protection.
Kareem El-Badry – Astrophysicist at Caltech passionately decoding the mysteries of stars, dormant black holes, and new stellar systems—reshaping how we understand the cosmos.
Jeremy Frey – Artist and traditional Wabanaki basket maker from Maine, blending natural materials and ancestral craftsmanship into fine art that challenges the line between design and tradition.
Hahrie Han – Political scientist at Johns Hopkins University studying what makes civic participation effective and enduring. Her work provokes questions about how grassroots power truly takes root.
Tonika Lewis Johnson – Chicago-based photographer and social justice advocate using art and storytelling to confront housing inequity and racial segregation through projects like UnBlocked Englewood.
Ieva Jusionyte – Cultural anthropologist at Brown University investigating life at the U.S.–Mexico border from the inside, even serving as a volunteer paramedic to better understand the people behind policy headlines.
Toby Kiers – Evolutionary biologist in Amsterdam studying the intricate relationships among plants, fungi, and microbes, shedding light on the unseen cooperation that keeps ecosystems alive.
Jason McLellan – Structural biologist at the University of Texas, celebrated for his role in developing COVID-19 vaccines and now working toward a universal coronavirus vaccine—a true hero of science.
Tuan Andrew Nguyen – Vietnamese multidisciplinary artist delving into the lingering effects of war, displacement, and healing, often using art made from actual remnants of conflict zones.
Tommy Orange – Acclaimed novelist from Oakland whose stories, including There There and Wandering Stars, illuminate Native American identity, history, and resilience with emotional depth.
Margaret Wickens Pearce – Cartographer from Maine collaborating with Indigenous groups to create maps that reclaim and preserve their histories and knowledge. Her current work, Mississippi Dialogues, exemplifies this mission.
Sébastien Philippe – Nuclear security expert at the University of Wisconsin–Madison exposing the human and environmental costs of nuclear weapons while advocating for transparency in the global arms landscape.
Gala Porras-Kim – Los Angeles– and London-based artist examining how museums and institutions shape the narratives of cultural artifacts—raising sharp questions about ownership, preservation, and power.
Teresa Puthussery – Neurobiologist and optometrist at UC Berkeley building a deeper understanding of how we see—and possibly how future therapies can restore that vision.
Craig Taborn – Brooklyn musician and improviser who blends jazz, electronic, and avant-garde music into soul-stirring performances marked by fearless experimentation.
William Tarpeh – Stanford chemical engineer turning waste into value by transforming the nitrogen in urine into useful chemical products—a radical approach to sustainability.
Lauren K. Williams – Harvard mathematician whose work connects pure mathematics with physics and other sciences, proving that curiosity, not just calculation, drives discovery.
These 22 Fellows redefine what it means to be a modern genius. They don’t just master knowledge—they expand it, often in ways that challenge conventional wisdom. But here’s the real question: What does it truly mean to be a genius today? Is it about invention, empathy, persistence, or the courage to see the world differently?
Share your thoughts below—do these Fellows represent the future you want to see? Or do you think genius itself looks different in the age of AI, activism, and art?
