Prometheus 6

Five California 'Geniuses' Recognized by Foundation
Scientists from the University of California and Stanford plan to use $500,000 MacArthur prizes to further their research.
By Thomas H. Maugh II
Times Staff Writer
September 20, 2005

Five California scientists, three of them at UC Berkeley, are among the 25 winners across the country of this year's MacArthur Foundation "genius" grants.

Each of the winners receives $500,000 over five years, which can be used to further their research or for anything else they desire.

The three UC Berkeley recipients include a geophysicist who uses household products in laboratory experiments to check out theoretical calculations about volcanoes and earthquakes; a molecular biologist attempting to determine how primitive one-celled organisms diversified into all the forms of life we know today; and a neuroscientist probing how cells in the brain communicate with one another.

The other two California winners are a UC San Diego historian of science who is documenting how sound brought jolting changes to the movie industry and a Stanford University biochemist developing new techniques to produce useful drugs.

The award offers "highly creative men and women the gift of time and the unfettered opportunity to explore, create and contribute," said Jonathan F. Fanton, president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Recipients do not know they have been nominated for the awards. Most use the funds to support research for which it is difficult to find conventional funding sources.