MacArthur Foundation Announces 'Genius Grants'

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has announced the recipients of the 2001 MacArthur Fellowships, commonly known as "genius grants," which recognize the efforts of creative people with the potential to improve humanity. Each of this year's 23 fellows, who range from musicians and lawyers to molecular biologists and astrophysicists, will receive an unrestricted stipend of $500,000 paid over five years.

Two of the new fellows work in photonics-related fields. Lene Hau, Gordon McKay professor of applied physics and a professor of physics at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., is recognized for her investigations into the interaction of light and matter; specifically, for slowing light to a crawl and to a stop. Brooks Pate, professor of chemistry at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, is celebrated for his efforts in the spectroscopy of high-energy chemistry.