http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/17/arts/macarthur-awards-go-to-21-diverse-fellows.html 2014-09-17 06:53:46 MacArthur Awards Go to 21 Diverse Fellows Stipends will be awarded to a psychologist studying racial perceptions in crimes, the maker of the film “The Act of Killing” and a law professor seeking to help American Indian women, among others. === Twelve men and nine women, whose work is as diverse as studying the racial elements in perceptions of crime and translating contemporary Arab poetry, have been named the 2014 fellows of the John D. and Catherine T. The awards are being announced on Wednesday by the The oldest fellow this year is Pamela O. Long, 71, a historian of science and technology in Washington, whose work explores connections between the arts and science. The youngest is Danielle S. Bassett, 32, a physicist at the University of Pennsylvania, who analyzes neuron interactions in the brain as people perform various tasks. She seeks to determine how different parts of the brain communicate and how that communication changes with learning or in the aftermath of a brain injury or disease. When she received the call informing her of the no-strings-attached windfall, Ms. Bassett recalled being stunned into silence. “Halfway through, I said, ‘Are you absolutely sure you got the right person?’ ” Ms. Bassett said in a telephone interview. “Then they read my bio to me. It’s an unexpected honor and sort of validation.” The artists among this year’s winners include The other artists are Several of the new fellows are combating pressing social problems, including violence against women and racial bias. Jennifer L. Eberhardt Her statistical analysis also showed that the “blacker” a defendant looks — as measured by skin color, hair texture and lip size — the more likely it was that the defendant would receive the death penalty if the victim was white. Police officers are more likely to judge as criminals those whose faces are the most stereotypically black, her research shows. “It’s almost as if people are thinking of blackness as a crime,” Ms. Eberhardt said in a telephone interview. She is working with law enforcement agencies to improve policing and with anthropologists to counter implicit bias. Sarah Deer, 41, a professor at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, develops policies and legislation to combat domestic abuse and “Native Americans are the most victimized group for sexual violence and domestic violence,” Ms. Deer said in a telephone interview. “The treatment of native women that came with early settlement never stopped.” Mary L. Bonauto, 53, a civil rights lawyer with the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders in Boston is among the other 2014 fellows whose talents have led her to advocacy work. Ms. Bonauto is credited The other winners this year include Tami Bond, 50, an environmental engineer at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Craig Gentry, 41, a computer scientist at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y.; John Henneberger, 59, They are joined by