Brown University ranks among the top 10 universities whose undergraduates go on to win the prestigious MacArthur "genius" grant, according tonew datafrom the MacArthur Foundation.
Since the foundation began awarding the grants, which honor individuals with great creative potential, Brown graduates have received 14 awards. Harvard produces the most recipients by far with 72 grantees.
Although Brown's top 10 ranking is impressive, it remains lower than nearly every other Ivy League school including Harvard, Princeton, which ranked second, Yale and Cornell. Columbia narrowly beat out Brown with 15 grantees. Only Dartmouth did not make the top 10.
The fellowship comes with a $625,000 stipend paid out over five years, which fellows can use in any way they choose. The MacArthur Foundation announces 20-25 recipients each year and has just released statistics on its recipients dating back to 1981.
Interestingly, a significant number, 76 awardees, have never received a graduate or undergraduate degree.
Brown's14 awards tied with the University of Chicago and the University of Michigan. The only other public university in the top 10 is the University of California at Berkeley, whose graduates received 20 awards. Stanford ranked6thwith 17 grantees. MIT came in just below Brown with 13 awardees.
My own alma mater, Wellesley College, has produced just four recipients, the same number as RISD, Duke, Haverford, SUNY Purchase and several others.
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