Two from UW-Madison receive ‘genius grants’
In a rare event, two faculty members at UW–Madison have received word that they’ll get national “genius grants” awarded to individuals whose work and accomplishments set lofty standards for creativity and promise.
 Jill Banfield
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Jill Banfield, a geologist, and Laura Kiessling, a chemist, are among 32 people named MacArthur Fellows today (Tuesday, June 22) by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
“This award recognizing two of our outstanding faculty is truly a great joy for everyone at the university – the future looks bright,” said Graduate School Dean Virginia Hinshaw.
The fellowships, with stipends ranging from $200,000 to $375,000 over five years, are popularly known as “genius grants” and are awarded each year.
“We look everywhere for the most exciting among us and give them a chance to follow their best instincts over an extended period of time,” said Daniel J. Socolow, director of the MacArthur Fellows Program.
Banfield, a professor of geology and geophysics, joined the UW–Madison faculty in 1990. Although a mineralogist with an international reputation as a microscopist and material scientist, Banfield is pioneering a new field of science known as geomicrobiology, the study of the role microorganisms play at the boundary of the Earth and its biosphere.
“The techniques of molecular microbiology are now relatively accessible, so we can start to explore the microbiological communities present in the natural environment,” says Banfield, whose fellowship is $290,000.
Bacteria and other microorganisms that play a critical role in many geologic and environmental phenomena but their precise functions are unknown. Unlocking the secrets of such microbes holds vast potential for developing new biological and environmental technologies.
Kiessling, a native of Lake Mills, Wis., joined the UW–Madison chemistry faculty in 1991. She has conducted innovative studies of the molecules that mediate inflammation, the body’s response to injury or infection and that causes swelling and pain. Her work may one day lead to new treatments for extreme instances of inflammation such as arthritis, lupus and other diseases.
She has also conducted insightful studies of the proteins that may be responsible for the brain lesions associated with Alzheimer’s disease, a debilitating and fatal brain disease.
Kiessling said she was astonished when notified of the fellowship: “I’m still amazed. I was really shocked.”
Kiessling’s MacArthur fellowship is $285,000. Although she has no specific plan for the grant, Kiessling said she hoped to use the award to its greatest effect: “I definitely want to do something that’s going to make a difference.”
Kiessling and Banfield are the second and third MacArthur Fellows from UW–Madison. In 1995, Joel Rogers, a UW–Madison professor of law, political science and sociology, was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship for his activism and scholarly work in the area of labor, the American workplace and democracy. William Cronon, UW–Madison’s Frederick Jackson Turner professor of History, Geography and Environmental Studies, also received a MacArthur Fellowship in 1985, before coming to the university.
Each fellowship amounts to five years of unrestricted, “no strings attached” support to use as each fellow sees fit. The Foundation neither requires nor expects specific products or reports from fellows.
Fellows are identified and selected through a secretive process, with nearly 100 anonymous “talent scouts” scouring the world for promising individuals whose work pushes the boundaries of fields as diverse as literature, journalism and science. Once identified, nominees are screened by an anonymous selection committee of a dozen experts. The process, according to the foundation, is concealed to foster objectivity and discourage efforts to influence the process.
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private, independent grantmaking organization with assets of more than $4 billion. It is dedicated to helping groups and individuals foster lasting improvement in the human condition.