Three UM faculty are 2011 MacArthur Fellows
I just wanted to flag this for everyone, because it really shows the enduring excellence of the faculty at the U of M: three (of 22) MacArthur fellows for 2011 are faculty at the U of M: Tiya Miles (a public historian), Melanie Sanford (a chemist), and Yukiko Yamashita (a biologist). No other Big 10 schools are represented. (Harvard is the other university with 3 MacArthurs this year).
This is a big deal. The MacArthur foundation gives each fellow $500,000 over five years, no questions asked, no strings attached. It doesn't have the press of the Nobel prize, but in academic circles it's more respected.
Note: I think this isn't OT since it's Michigan related... mods, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
September 20th, 2011 at 9:17 AM ^
The Michigan Difference
September 20th, 2011 at 9:20 AM ^
Word!
September 20th, 2011 at 9:26 AM ^
I really enjoyed seeing him speak at the Ford School a few years ago. Among the highlights were his joke about the achievement gap in laser pointers and the audible groans that went out when the introductory speaker praised him as "articulate".
September 20th, 2011 at 9:34 AM ^
This is quite the haul for UM faculty and a huge feather in UM's academic cap. Congrats to profs who deservedly won these fellowships.
September 20th, 2011 at 9:36 AM ^
no strings attatched...but it wont compare to when i win the powerball
September 20th, 2011 at 9:39 AM ^
My contributions were ignored again. Alas....
September 20th, 2011 at 9:40 AM ^
The MacArthur is a particularly strange award, as the foundation just contacts you one day and informs you that you've won. There's no application, the nomination process is incredibly secretive, and the awards reach across the academy, the arts, and public affairs.
There are numerous stories of people deleting the emails from the MacArthur Foundation because they seem like email scams... "Dear Professor ___ : Please contact me in regard to an award you have won. Sincerely, xxx"
September 20th, 2011 at 9:55 AM ^
who everyone thinks we are
September 20th, 2011 at 10:34 AM ^
This isn't really worth its own thread so I'll ask it in a comment -- does anyone remember an English professor with the last name Ginden? He taught in the early 90s and specialized in writers like John Galsworthy.
September 20th, 2011 at 10:34 AM ^
Unless I missed someone, UofM and Harvard are the only instituitions with 3 representatives. The others have one and the vast majority of american universities have 0
September 20th, 2011 at 10:38 AM ^
I work for an academic society, and the first thing the Executive Director said this morning when he saw me was "Three!" I looked for other winners, especially in my field and from the university (a fairly prestigious school) where we're housed. No local recipients, so I can brag without people saying, "yeah, but we have one too."
September 20th, 2011 at 10:39 AM ^
How many for Sparty?
September 20th, 2011 at 11:55 AM ^
I'm guessing greater or equal to zero and less than one.
September 20th, 2011 at 10:44 AM ^
Pretty sure Peter Griffin won one of those not too long ago...
September 20th, 2011 at 8:52 PM ^
"It doesn't have the press of the Nobel prize, but in academic circles it's more respected."
ummm, no.