Tami Bond And Mark Hersam Named MacArthur Fellows

Environmental engineer Tami Bond and materials scientist Mark C. Hersam are among the 21 new MacArthur Fellows named by the John D. & Catherine T. Mac­Arthur Foundation. The award, often called a genius grant, goes to exceptionally creative professionals, including scientists and other researchers, legal advocates, writers, and artists with a track record of achievement and the potential for significant contributions in the future.

Fellows will each receive a stipend of $625,000 paid out over five years. The fellowship comes with no stipulations or reporting requirements and allows recipients maximum freedom to follow their own creative visions.

Bond, 50, is a professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering and an affiliate professor in the department of atmospheric sciences at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Bond and her research group work on the interface between energy consumption and global atmospheric chemistry. Their main focus has been on understanding physical, chemical, and optical properties of carbon-containing particles and the factors that govern combustion emissions. They aim to unravel the global effects of black carbon emissions on climate and human health.

“I’m often tempted to explore nooks and crannies where traditional grants can’t take me, and I think that’s a potential role for the MacArthur grant,” Bond says.

Hersam, 39, is a professor in Northwestern University’s departments of materials science and engineering, chemistry, and medicine and is director of its Materials Research Science & Engineering Center.

Taking an interdisciplinary approach that draws on techniques from materials science, physics, engineering, and chemistry, Hersam has established himself as a leading experimentalist in the area of hybrid organic-inorganic materials. He and his group have been focused on studying the electrical and optical properties of carbon and related nanomaterials, which may find use in electronics, solar cells, and batteries.

When Hersam received the phone call from the MacArthur Foundation delivering the good news about the award, he initially thought it was a joke, and then he says he went into shock. Having now absorbed the news, he says that receiving the award is “a great honor and, more importantly, a great opportunity.”

Hersam is a 13-year member of ACS, which publishes C&EN. He is an associate editor of ACS Nano.