page_title: MacArthur Fellows Program
section_title: 2005
hierarchical_section_title: MacArthur Fellows Program / Recipients / 2005
caption_attribution_description: English: Jonathan Lethem at the National Book Critics Circle Awards.
context_page_description: The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 individuals, working in any field, who have shown "extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction" and are citizens or residents of the United States.
  According to the foundation's website, "the fellowship is not a reward for past accomplishment, but rather an investment in a person's originality, insight, and potential". The current prize is $625,000 paid over five years in quarterly installments. This figure was increased from $500,000 in 2013 with the release of a review of the MacArthur Fellows Program. Since 1981, 942 people have been named MacArthur Fellows, ranging in age from 18 to 82. The award has been called "one of the most significant awards that is truly 'no strings attached'".
  The program does not accept applications.
context_section_description: Marin Alsop, symphony conductor
  Ted Ames, fisherman, conservationist, marine biologist
  Terry Belanger, rare book preservationist
  Edet Belzberg, documentary filmmaker
  Majora Carter, urban revitalization strategist
  Lu Chen, neuroscientist
  Michael Cohen, pharmacist
  Joseph Curtin, violinmaker
  Aaron Dworkin, music educator
  Teresita Fernández, sculptor
  Claire Gmachl, quantum cascade laser engineer
  Sue Goldie, physician and researcher
  Steven Goodman, conservation biologist
  Pehr Harbury, biochemist
  Nicole King, molecular biologist
  Jon Kleinberg, computer scientist
  Jonathan Lethem, novelist
  Michael Manga, geophysicist
  Todd Martinez, theoretical chemist
  Julie Mehretu, painter
  Kevin M. Murphy, economist
  Olufunmilayo Olopade, clinician and researcher
  Fazal Sheikh, photographer
  Emily Thompson, aural historian
  Michael Walsh, vehicle emissions specialist
caption: Jonathan Lethem
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