Macarthur Foundation

Three Caltech scholars who answered the phone recently received the kind of news many scientists desire but few dare expect--they had been secretly nominated, discussed and finally awarded MacArthur Foundation fellowships. They were among 31 fellows in the United States and Europe announced Monday, and will divide--no strings attached--$875,000. In addition to the Caltech academics, the winners include historian Taylor Branch and documentary filmmaker Marcel Ophuls.

Noted furniture maker Sam Maloof, 69, was in what he called "a state of shock" Monday to be one of seven Californians named as winners of MacArthur Foundation fellowships providing tax-free, five-year stipends--with no strings attached. "I don't know how they even selected me," Maloof said in Alta Loma, where he lives in a seven-acre lemon grove near the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains and makes what many regard as the finest furniture crafted in California. "It's very thrilling.

Each has come into a large sum of money, but none will be scouting choice property or living it up on Caribbean cruises. And they won't be quitting their jobs. They couldn't if they tried. Their work is inseparable from their lives. The MacArthur Foundation has made sure that each can go on doing what she does best by awarding 1995 "genius grants" of $255,000 to $295,000 to three Los Angeles residents. For a while, anyway, each will be free to work without financial worries.

When a Kansas schoolteacher named Krista Meisel e-mailed Rueben Martinez to make an appointment with him at his Santa Ana bookstore for last Tuesday, the bookseller didn't think much about it. An erstwhile barber turned nationally recognized missionary for Latino literacy, Martinez met with students and teachers almost every day. At the appointed hour, however, there was no Krista Meisel.

A tuna biologist from Monterey, a voting rights attorney from Fremont, a social historian from San Francisco and a playwright who distilled all the voices of the Los Angeles riots into one compelling drama felt the touch of a magic financial wand Monday. Once again, a new crop of MacArthur Fellowships--the coveted, six-figure financial awards that carry no criteria or parameters--have been bestowed upon an eclectic group of thinkers, scholars and artists.

Two Caltech researchers, two Los Angeles artists and a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer at the Getty Trust are among 24 people who received this year's so-called genius grants awarded by the MacArthur Foundation. Three other Californians also received the awards, the state thereby accounting for a full third of the recipients. Each of the 24 fellows will receive $500,000 over the next five years to use any way they want--no strings attached.

Christopher Chyba insists he sleeps, but it's hard to imagine how he finds time for more than a quick nap here and there. An astrobiologist who also happens to be an expert on international relations, bioterrorism and nuclear security, Chyba is devoted to searching for intelligent life in the universe and doing his part to make life on Earth a little wiser too.

A film maker who focused his sensitive and perceptive eye on Los Angeles' black culture and a puppeteer who abandoned his art under severe financial pressure will be named winners today of MacArthur Fellowship grants for the advancement of American art and science. Charles Burnett, whose 1977 film, "Killer of Sheep," won the Critics' Prize at the Berlin Film Festival, will be awarded $275,000. Bruce D.

A UCLA astronomer who is pioneering ways to minimize image distortion caused by the Earth's atmosphere and a Caltech physicist developing quantum computing are among the 25 winners of the 2008 MacArthur awards announced today. The winners, cited for "exceptional creativity" in their fields, will receive $500,000 each over the next five years to use as they see fit.

The unconventional way Lucy Blake defines wealth has made her, unexpectedly, a conventionally wealthy woman. On Tuesday, Blake won a MacArthur Foundation grant of $500,000, to be spent any way she pleases. It's a reward, MacArthur officials say, for the simple but profound message she has preached in towns and cities scattered across the spine of the Sierra Nevada for the last six years. Her sermon: The region's wealth includes alpine vistas, pure streams and historic downtowns.