How would you like a $500k Genius Award?

Forget the Warren Buffet 'Tax' Rule, how about encouraging wealthy individuals to make investments in individuals who can potentially add positive contributions in the future. Yes, that's right -- wealthy individuals contributing to improve society. Its no surprise that wealthy individuals already make large contributions to non-profit organizations... however, I wonder if this proposed tax rule will negatively impact contributions similar to this Genius Award that was recently given to 22 recipients, with no strings attached ... Anyhow, this is merely an observation but I have to say that The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is doing something incredibly positive not just for the economy, but also for the future of the US. People may not believe that one person can make change, but I really do think one person can make change. Anyhow, read on... hope all is well...

Some interesting articles that I read:

Foundation Center - Independent and family foundations — which represent the vast majority of U.S. foundations — reduced their giving by less than 1 percent to $32.5 billion in 2010.

NYtimes - The millionaires' rate would apply to fewer than 450k taxpayers, administration officials said; 144 million returns were filed for 2010.

MacArthur Foundation The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation - Press release below.

22 New MacArthur Fellows Announced

One call out of the blue — $500,000 — No strings

(Chicago, IL) — The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today named 22 new MacArthur Fellows for 2011. Working across a broad spectrum of endeavors, the Fellows include an architect, a sports medicine researcher, a cellist, a developmental biologist, a radio producer, a neuropathologist, a conservator, a poet, a technologist, and a public historian. All were selected for their creativity, originality, and potential to make important contributions in the future.

The recipients learned, through a phone call out of the blue from the Foundation, that they will each receive $500,000 in no-strings-attached support over the next five years. MacArthur Fellowships come without stipulations or reporting requirements and offer Fellows unprecedented freedom and opportunity to reflect, create, and explore. The unusual level of independence afforded to Fellows underscores the spirit of freedom intrinsic to creative endeavors. The work of MacArthur Fellows knows neither boundaries nor the constraints of age, place, and endeavor.

"This has been a year of great change and extraordinary challenge, and we are once again reminded of the potential individuals have to make a difference in the world and shape our future," said Robert Gallucci, President of the MacArthur Foundation. "The MacArthur Fellows exemplify how individual creativity and talent can spark new insights and ideas in every imaginable field of human endeavor."

Among the recipients this year are:

• a radio producer engaging a new generation of listeners with audio explorations of scientific and philosophical questions that recreate the thrill of discovery (Jad Abumrad);
• a sports medicine researcher advancing the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of sports-related brain injuries to improve the safety of athletes of all ages (Kevin Guskiewicz);
• a technologist inventing low-cost, easy-to-deploy sensor systems to enable users to track household energy consumption and to make buildings more responsive to our needs (Shwetak Patel);
• a clinical psychologist deepening understanding of self-injury and suicide among adolescents and adults in the interest of saving lives and influencing mental health care in our society (Matthew Nock);
• an architect integrating conventional materials, bold yet functional designs, and ecologically friendly technology in a wide range of striking structures (Jeanne Gang);
• a parasitologist/virologist decoding the genomes of virulent human pathogens that cause rare diseases and threaten the lives of millions in the developing world (Elodie Ghedin);
• a long-form journalist crafting richly illuminating accounts of ordinary people in such rapidly changing societies as Reform Era China (Peter Hessler);
• a percussionist and composer infusing Latin jazz with bold new energy and sound, dazzling technical abilities, and rhythmically adventurous compositions (Dafnis Prieto);
• an evolutionary geneticist addressing such fundamental questions as why some species reproduce sexually and why some species carry more than one copy of each gene (Sarah Otto);
• a public historian reframing the history of colonial America in works that illuminate the complex relationship between African and Cherokee peoples (Tiya Miles); and
• a poet and translator mining the classical world and poetic techniques to craft imaginative explorations of contemporary life that evoke insights about antiquity's relevance for today (A. E. Stallings).

Summary information about the MacArthur Fellows is attached. Additional biographical information, video interviews, and downloadable photos are online at www.macfound.org/fellows.

"The call from the Foundation is the culmination of an intensive year or longer review of the creative efforts and promise of each Fellow. It comes out of the blue and offers the new Fellows the gift of time and the unfettered opportunity to explore, create, and contribute," said Daniel J. Socolow, director of the MacArthur Fellows Program.

The selection process begins with formal nominations. Hundreds of anonymous nominators assist the Foundation in identifying people to be considered for a MacArthur Fellowship. Nominations are accepted only from invited nominators, a list that is constantly renewed throughout the year. They are chosen from many fields and challenged to identify people who demonstrate exceptional creativity and promise. A Selection Committee of roughly a dozen members, who also serve anonymously, meets regularly to review files, narrow the list, and make final recommendations to the Foundation's Board of Directors. The number of Fellows selected each year is not fixed; typically, it varies between 20 and 25.

Including this year's Fellows, 850 people, ranging in age from 18 to 82 at the time of their selection, have been named MacArthur Fellows since the inaugural class in 1981.