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Daily Question – 110

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What connects all these people?

These are people of Indian origin who have won the MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship. (Not an exhaustive list though.)

1. Ruth Prawer Jhabvala – Writer (Correction – Ruth Prawer Jhabvala is of Polish – German parentage and acquired her surname by marriage to Indian architect Cyrus H. Jhabvala. I had been under the assumption that she was of Indian origin. I stand corrected. Thanks to Bobo for pointing this out. However this didn’t stop six of you from guessing the answer I had in mind. 🙂 )
2. Sendhil Mullainathan – Economist
3. Ved Mehta – Writer
4. Ustad Ali Akbar Khan – Sarod maestro
5. Atul Gawande – Surgeon and Author
6. A.K.Ramanujan – Poet

(The MacArthur Fellows Program or MacArthur Fellowship (sometimes nicknamed the “genius grant”) is an award given by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation each year to typically 20 to 40 citizens or residents of the U.S., of any age and working in any field, who “show exceptional merit and promise for continued and enhanced creative work.” According to the Foundation website, “the fellowship is not a reward for past accomplishment, but rather an investment in a person’s originality, insight, and potential.” The current amount of the award is $500,000, paid in quarterly installments over five years. As of 2007, there have been 756 recipients who have received a total of more than $350 million. Past winners have included people like Richard Stallman, Stephen Jay Gould, Stephen Wolfram and Thomas Pynchon.)

Cracked by Thomas Masun, CR, Sankhya, Meera, Zizzyphus and Bobo.

9 thoughts on “Daily Question – 110”

  1. Dear Uncle:

    These are people of Indian origin who have won the MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship. (The list is not exhaustive. It doesn’t include, for instance, Vamsi Mootha.)

    We see in this pictures Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Sendhil Mullainathan, Ved Mehta, Ali Akbar Khan, Atul Gawande and Ved Mehta.

    Kind regards,
    Thomas Masun

  2. macarthur genius awardees of indian origin… could only recog ali akbar khan and atul gawande prior to googling..

  3. Indian or Indian origin winners of the MacArthur Fellowship, nicknamed the ‘genius grant’, clockwise from top left: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Sendhil Mullainathan, Ved Mehta, AK Ramanujan, Atul Gawande and Ali Akbar Khan.

  5. All were indian ‘born’ or has an indian connection recipients of MacArthur Genius Grant or MacArthur Fellowship given to US citizens.
    1.Ruth Prawer Jhabvala-novelist
    2.Sendhil Mullainathan -Economist
    3.Ved Mehta -Writer
    4.Ustad Ali Akbar Khan-Sarod maestro
    5.Atul Gawande-Surgeon and Author
    6.A.K.Ramanujan-Poet

  6. would be a pitifully short list, but my guess is Indian-origin MacArthur fellows

    (based solely on IDing only Atul Gawande. heh)

  9. um, correct me if i’m wrong.. Ruth Prawer is of Indian-origin? Or does exchange of body fluids with Injuns count? heh. Mistah J did colonise her if you’re splitting hairs.. 😛

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