MacArthur genius award' list includes Oakland writer, Berkeley and Stanford scientists

"An Oakland novelist and scientists from UC Berkeley and Stanford are among the 22 fellows selected this year by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and announced Wednesday. The recognition often called the genius award comes with an $800,000 prize that fellows can spend however they choose. Tommy Orange. (Photo courtesy of Bookshop Santa Cruz) The Bay Area recipients are: Tommy Orange, 43, Oakland; a fiction writer whose books illuminated the experiences past and present of Native Americans in the Oakland area."

"Each class doesn't have a theme, and we're not creating a cohort around a certain idea, said Marlies Carruth, director of the MacArthur Fellows program. But I think this year, we see empathy and deep engagement with community figures prominently in this class. Through different methodologies, many of the fellows boldly and unflinchingly reflect what they see and hear from deep engagement with their communities, she said."

"The foundation selects fellows over the course of years, considering a vast range of recommendations, largely from their peers. Fellows do not apply for the recognition or participate in any way in their selection meaning the honor usually comes as a surprise. In addition to Orange, Puthussery and Tarpeh, the 2025 fellows are: Angel F. Adames Corraliza, 37, Madison, Wisconsin, an atmospheric scientist whose research deepened knowledge about what drives weather patterns in the tropics. Matt Black, 55, Exeter, California, a photographer whose black and white images investigate poverty and inequality in the United States."

The MacArthur Foundation named 22 fellows for 2025, each receiving an $800,000 unrestricted award. Bay Area recipients include novelist Tommy Orange of Oakland, UC Berkeley neurobiologist Teresa Puthussery, and Stanford chemical engineer William Tarpeh. Orange’s fiction illuminated past and present Native American experiences; Puthussery identified a retinal cell type that clarifies human visual processing; Tarpeh developed techniques to extract valuable minerals from wastewater for use in fertilizers and cleaning products. The foundation selects fellows over years from peer recommendations and does not accept applications. The 2025 class emphasizes empathy and deep engagement with communities across diverse methodologies.

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