The MacArthur Fellowships for 2001 were announced on 24 October 2001, after delays due to the events of 11 September. Each of the 23 individuals will receive $500,000 over five years. The foundation describes the basis for giving the awards as follows: "The MacArthur Fellows Program awards unrestricted fellowships to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits, and a marked capacity for self-direction. There are three criteria for selection of Fellows: exceptional creativity, promise for important future advances based on a track record of significant accomplishment, and potential for the fellowship to facilitate subsequent creative work." The Fellowships are often referred to as "genius grants", though the foundation dislikes that term.

The MacArthur Fellows for 2001 are:

• Danielle Allen
  • Classicist/Political Scientist
  • Associate Professor
  • Department of Classical Languages and Literatures,
  • Department of Politics,
  • Committee on Social Thought,
  • University of Chicago
• Andrea Barrett
  • Novelist
  • Instructor, part-time, MFA Program for Writers,
  • Warren Wilson College,
  • Swannanoa, North Carolina
• Christopher Chyba
  • Scientist/Science Policy Specialist
  • Carl Sagan Chair, SETI Institute,
  • Co-Director, Center for International Security and Cooperation,
  • Associate Professor of Geological & Environmental Sciences,
  • Stanford University
• Michael Dickinson
  • Insect Physiologist,
  • Professor of Integrative Biology,
  • University of California, Berkeley
• Rosanne Haggerty
  • Entrepeneur
  • Founder and Executive Director,
  • Common Ground
  • New York City
• Lene Hau
  • Optical Physicist
  • Gordan McKay Professor of Applied Physics,
  • Professor of Physics,
  • Harvard University
• Dave Hickey
  • Art Critic and Art Historian
  • Professor of Art Theory and Criticism
  • University of Nevada
• Stephen Hough
  • Concert Pianist
  • New York City and London
• Kay Redfield Jamison
  • Psychologist
  • Professor of Psychiatry,
  • Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
  • Honorary Professor of English,
  • University of St. Andrews
• Sandra Lanham
  • Conservationist
  • Founder and Director
  • Environmental Flying Services
  • Tucson, Arizona
• Iņigo Manglano-Ovalle
  • Artist
  • Associate Professor,
  • College of Architecture and the Arts,
  • University of Illinois, Chicago
• Cynthia Moss
  • Naturalist
  • Director, Amboseli Elephant Research Project
  • Amboseli National Park
  • Kenya
• Dirk Obbink
  • Papyrologist
  • Lecturer in Papyrology and Greek Literature,
  • University of Oxford,
  • Fellow and Tutor in Greek,
  • Christ Church College,
  • Oxford, England
• Norman Pace
  • Molecular Biologist
  • Professor of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
  • University of Colorado, Boulder
• Suzan-Lori Parks
  • Playwright
  • Director, A.S.K. Theater Projects Writing for Performance Program
  • California Institute of the Arts
  • Valencia, California
• Brooks Pate
  • Physical Chemist
  • Professor of Chemistry
  • University of Virginia
• Xiao Qiang
  • Human Rights Leader
  • Executive Director
  • Human Rights in China
  • New York City
• Geraldine Seydoux
  • Developmental Biologist
  • Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics,
  • John Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Bright Sheng
  • Composer
  • Professor of Music
  • University of Michigan
• David Spergel
  • Astrophysicist
  • Professor of Astrophysical Sciences,
  • Princeton University
• Jean Strouse
  • Biographer,
  • New York City
• Julie Su
  • Public Interest Lawyer
  • Litigation Director,
  • Asian Pacific American Legal Center
  • Los Angeles
• David Wilson
  • Artist/Inventor
  • Founder and Proprietor
  • Museum of Jurassic Technology
  • Culver City, California

1. www.macfound.org