On October 8, 2025, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation unveiled its latest class of fellows, bestowing its coveted “genius” awards on 22 remarkable individuals across the United States. This year’s recipients, who will each receive $800,000 paid over five years with no strings attached, represent a broad swath of disciplines—from political science and literature to harm reduction and atmospheric research. The fellowship, often referred to as the “genius grant,” is among the nation’s most prestigious recognitions of creative and influential work.
Unlike many awards, MacArthur fellowships aren’t something you apply for. Instead, the foundation relies on a vast network of peer recommendations, sometimes taking years to make its selections. According to Marlies Carruth, director of the MacArthur Fellows program, “Each class doesn’t have a theme and we’re not creating a cohort around a certain idea. But I think this year, we see empathy and deep engagement with community figures prominently in this class.” As Carruth explained, the 2025 fellows “boldly and unflinchingly” reflect the experiences and challenges of their communities, using different methodologies to bring those stories to light.
Among the newly named fellows is Nabarun Dasgupta, an epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dasgupta’s work has placed him on the front lines of America’s ongoing overdose crisis. By his own account, he obsesses over drug overdose data, parsing reports from across the country for signs of change. In 2024, Dasgupta was one of the first researchers to notice a startling trend: “I was going through [reports] state-by-state and all the graphs kind of pointed downwards,” he told NPR. Fatal overdoses, which had seemed like an unstoppable epidemic, were actually declining in many states—a shift he described as “a complete shock.”
Dasgupta’s findings have been more than academic. His research suggests that the drop in overdose deaths could already be saving “roughly 20,000 lives” each year. This remarkable decline, the biggest and most hopeful in decades, comes after years of devastating losses and relentless headlines about fentanyl and other dangerous substances. But Dasgupta’s impact extends beyond the lab. He helped develop a national network to sample and analyze street drugs, forming an early warning system to detect toxic chemicals being mixed with illicit substances. He also co-founded the Remedy Alliance / For The People, a group that distributes naloxone—the life-saving drug that reverses opioid overdoses—across the country. As Maya Doe-Simkins, the Remedy Alliance’s co-director, put it, “The work that Nab is involved with definitely saves lives, to the tune of tens of thousands of people.”
Receiving the MacArthur award was an emotional moment for Dasgupta. The news arrived just after he and his team had honored the late Louise Vincent, a nationally recognized addiction activist from North Carolina who died in August 2025. “I walked back into my office and closed the door because I needed a moment,” Dasgupta recalled to NPR. “That’s when I got a call from the foundation. I don’t know if it’s possible to simultaneously cry tears of joy out of one eye and grief out of the other, but that’s what that moment really felt like.” He later reflected in his journal, “We are surrounded by death every day. Sometimes, you have to give yourself a pep talk to get out of bed. Other mornings, the universe yells in your ear and tells you to keep going because what we’re doing is working.”
Dasgupta’s approach to harm reduction is both practical and deeply ethical. He collaborates closely with people who use drugs and with community-based organizations, designing interventions that are effective and responsive to real needs. “I think harm reduction is a problem-solving strategy, based on the ancient wisdom that all lives have dignity and value, regardless of what they put in their bodies,” he told NPR. Despite criticism and political headwinds—especially from the Trump administration, which has shifted funding away from harm reduction efforts—Dasgupta remains convinced by the data and the human stories. He believes it is ethically necessary to offer care and support, even to those not yet ready or able to stop using drugs. The MacArthur Foundation itself noted his unique ability to bridge the gap between research and street-level realities.
Dasgupta isn’t the only fellow whose work is rooted in community engagement and challenging social issues. Tonika Lewis Johnson, an artist based in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood, was also honored. Johnson’s projects shine a light on the impacts of racial segregation and predatory housing practices, often by photographing the same addresses in both north and south Chicago and beautifying residents’ homes. Her work, she said, is “validation and recognition that my neighborhood, this little Black neighborhood in Chicago that everyone gets told to, ‘Don’t go to because it’s dangerous,’ this award means there are geniuses here.”
Other fellows include novelist Tommy Orange, whose stories about Native American communities in Oakland, California, have captivated readers, and photographer Matt Black, whose black-and-white images document poverty in America. The list also features Hahrie Han, a political scientist known for her studies on what helps people connect across differences, and Ángel F. Adames Corraliza, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Adames Corraliza’s research into tropical weather patterns could eventually improve forecasting in those regions—a particularly urgent need as government funding for climate and weather research faces significant cutbacks.
For Adames Corraliza, who grew up in Puerto Rico, the award is a testament to the talent and perseverance emerging from communities that have faced adversity. Before receiving the MacArthur news, he had been considering scaling back his research due to funding challenges. Now, he says, the fellowship may allow him to pursue new theoretical ideas that are difficult to fund through traditional channels. “I think people do care and it does matter for the general public, regardless of what the political landscape is, which right now is fairly negative on this,” he said of climate and weather science.
While the MacArthur Foundation’s selection process remains shrouded in secrecy, the impact of its fellowships is unmistakable. For recipients like Dasgupta, Johnson, and Adames Corraliza, the award is both recognition and a call to action—a reminder that their work matters, even in the face of daunting challenges. As Dasgupta put it, “I don’t think the universe could send a clearer signal that we should keep going in the direction that we’re going in.”
In a year marked by uncertainty and division, the 2025 MacArthur fellows offer a powerful reminder of the creativity, resilience, and empathy that drive progress in American society.
