Dimitri Nakassis, a professor at the University of Toronto, is one of the recipients of this year’s MacArthur ‘genius’ grants.
A University of Toronto professor is one of the 24 winners of this year's "genius grants " — an award of US$625,000 over five years to spend any way the winner wants, no strings attached, thanks to the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Each of the winners found out in recent weeks through a phone call out of the blue.
University of Toronto associate professor Dimitri Nakassis was chosen for his work that is transforming the understanding of prehistoric Greek societies.
Some of the winners have gained fame and fortune for their work that, in the case of Ta-Nehisi Coates, landed him atop bestseller lists for what he has written about race. Another winner is playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda, whose play, "Hamilton" has been a hit on Broadway.
Others come from worlds little understood outside their fields. For them, the award is a reminder that what they are doing is important — and the money may just help keep what they do alive.
"I can finally pay my debts that I have to create what I have created," said Michelle Dorrance, a tap dancer and choreographer. "But what is so much more important is this will turn heads toward this art form."
Kartik Chandran said he sees his grant as validation for something bigger than his work as an environmental engineer at Columbia University turning wastewater from a pollutant into a valuable resource. It is recognition, he said, that something must be done about the many millions of people without clean water.
Maybe, said Matthew Desmond, the Harvard sociologist, the work he's done can remind people that there are human beings behind statistics and quiet tragedies going on around them.
Evictions "used to be so rare that they used to draw crowds," he said. "Now families have grown used to the rumble of moving trucks early in the morning."