The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation recently announced the 20 latest recipients for its fellowship program, commonly referred to as “genius grants.” MacArthur Fellows receive a grant of $800,000 over five years to spend however they want on their academic or creative endeavors. Winners have shown exceptional creativity in their work and the promise to do more.
Kristen Mack, vice president at the MacArthur Foundation, stated that “for 45 years, MacArthur Fellows have defied boundaries, by questioning conventions, crossing disciplines, and driving collective progress. The 2026 Fellows continue that creative tradition — they explore the depths of our humanity; they reveal untold origins to modern challenges; they expand the edges of scientific inquiry and life-saving research. They show us new ways to understand the world.”
Of this year’s 20 winners, four are African American scholars with current ties to the academic world in the United States.
Ellora Derenoncourt is an associate professor in the department of economics at Princeton University, where she also serves as founder and faculty director of the Program for Research on Inequality. Previously, she was an assistant professor in the department of economics and the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Derenoncourt is a graduate of Harvard University. She holds a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.
Rodney McMillian is sculpture area head and a professor in the department of art at the University of California, Los Angeles. His work explores how history and socioeconomic conditions determine experience and belonging in the United States, and particularly in the American South. His practice extends across media — installation, sculpture, painting, video, and performance. Professor McMillian is a graduate of the University of Virginia. He holds a post-baccalaureate degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and a master of fine arts degree from the California Institute of the Arts.
Maaza Mengiste is a professor of English at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. She previously taught at Princeton University and Queens College in New York City. Professor Mengiste’s first novel, Beneath the Lion’s Gaze (W.W. Norton, 2010), follows a physician and his two sons during the fall of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie and the rise of an oppressive military junta. In The Shadow King (W.W. Norton, 2019), Mengiste brings to life the little-known history of women resistance fighters during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia. Professor Mengiste is a graduate of the University of Michigan and holds a master of fine arts degree from New York University.
Immanuel Wilkins is an alto jazz saxophone player and composer blending traditional jazz motifs with modern textures in works that reflect on historical narratives of injustice and resilience. He is an adjunct instructor of jazz studies at New York University’s School of Professional Studies. Wilkins attended the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts and received a bachelor’s degree in music from The Juilliard School in New York City.
