John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

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The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a foundation established by the American insurer John D. MacArthur (1897–1978) - together with his wife Catherine MacArthur (1909–1981).

It awards the currently 625,000 US dollars over five years doped since 1981 scholarship " MacArthur Fellowships " for creative minds and scholars in the United States . The MacArthur Foundation supports several activities and organizations at home and abroad, including the Public Broadcasting System (PBS), the US public television.

The award is highly regarded in the USA and is also known there as the Genius Award .

history

William T. Kirby , John MacArthur's attorney, and Paul Doolen, its CFO , suggested that the MacArthurs set up a foundation to be fed by their vast fortunes. The charter was two pages long and written in plain English by Kirby.

When John D. MacArthur died on January 6, 1978, he was reportedly one of the top three richest people in the United States with a net worth of over $ 1 billion. 92% of his estate went to the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation as endowment capital, and he gave no instructions on how the funds were to be used. The Foundation's first board of directors, which was established by will of John D. MacArthur, included Catherine T. MacArthur (his widow), J. Roderick MacArthur (his son by first marriage), two other senior executives of Bankers Life and Casualty, and a radio host Paul Harvey .

The Foundation's first chairman of the board of directors was Doolen, who held the position from 1978 to 1984. John Corbally was the Foundation's first chairman from 1979 to 1989, followed by Adele Simmons as the Foundation's chairman from 1989 to 1999. Jonathan Fanton was MacArthur chairman from 1999 to 2009. From July 2009 until his 2014 dismissal was Robert Gallucci, former director from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, Chairman of the MacArthur Foundation. Julia Stasch has been President of the Foundation ever since. In addition to its headquarters in Chicago, the organization also has offices in Mexico , India , Nigeria and Russia .

See also

Web links

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  1. ↑ LA Times: MacArthur Foundation names 2014 fellows , September 2014
  2. ^ About the Foundation - MacArthur Foundation
  3. ^ For example, New York Times on the 2009 winners
  4. ↑ Source Watch: MacArthur Foundation , Center for Media and Democracy
  5. ↑ Mike Spector: Former Diplomat to Lead MacArthur Foundation . In: The Wall Street Journal , March 10, 2009, p. A2. Accessed December 16, 2014.