John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Founded 1970 (1970)[1][2]
Focus Climate change, mass incarceration, nuclear challenges, non-profit journalism, local issues in Chicago
Location
President
 Julia Stasch
Key people
 John D. MacArthur (co-founder)
Catherine T. MacArthur (co-founder)
Endowment $6.3 billion (12/31/2016)
Slogan "Committed to building a more just, verdant & peaceful world."
Website macfound.org

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is the 12th-largest private foundation in the United States.[3] Based in Chicago, the Foundation makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in Chicago, across the U.S., and in approximately 50 countries. MacArthur reports that it has awarded more than US $6 billion since its first grants in 1978.[1] According to the Foundation, it has an endowment of $6.3 billion and provides approximately $270 million annually in grants and impact investments.[4][5]

The Foundation's stated aim is to support "creative people, effective institutions, and influential networks building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world."[4][6] MacArthur's current grant-making priorities include mitigating climate change, reducing jail populations, decreasing nuclear threats, supporting nonprofit journalism, and funding local priorities in its hometown Chicago.[7] The MacArthur Fellows Program, also referred to as "genius grants", makes $625,000 no-strings-attached awards annually to about two dozen creative individuals in diverse fields.[8] The Foundation's 100&Change competition awards a $100 million grant every three years to a single proposal that addresses a critical problem of our time.

History

John D. MacArthur owned Bankers Life and Casualty and other businesses, as well as considerable property holdings in Florida and New York. His wife, Catherine T. MacArthur, held positions in many of these companies. Their attorney, William T. Kirby, and Paul Doolen, their CFO, suggested that the family create a foundation to be endowed by their vast fortune. One of the reasons MacArthur originally set up the Foundation was to avoid taxes.[9][10]

When MacArthur died on January 6, 1978, he was worth in excess of $1 billion and was reportedly one of the three richest men in the United States. MacArthur left 92 percent of his estate to begin the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The composition of the Foundation’s first board of directors, per MacArthur’s will, also included J. Roderick MacArthur, John's son from his first marriage, two other officers of Bankers Life and Casualty, and radio commentator Paul Harvey.[1] Jonas Salk, the inventor of the polio vaccine, later joined the Foundation's board of directors.[11]

MacArthur believed in the free market.[12][13] However, MacArthur did not spell out specific parameters for how his money was to be spent after he died. MacArthur told the Foundation's board of directors, "I figured out how to make the money. You fellows will have to figure out how to spend it."[14]

Between 1979 and 1981, John's son J. Roderick MacArthur, an ideological opponent of his father with whom the elder MacArthur had an acrimonious relationship, waged a legal battle against the Foundation for control of the board of directors.[9] The younger MacArthur sued eight members of the board, accusing them of mismanagement of the Foundation's finances.[15][16] By 1981, most of the original board had been replaced by members who agreed with J. Roderick MacArthur's desire to support liberal causes.[17] This ultimately resulted in the creation of what, in 2008, historian[18][19] and conservative commentator[20] Martin Morse Wooster called "one of the pillars of the liberal philanthropic establishment."[21] In 1984, MacArthur again sued the board of directors, asking a Cook County circuit court to liquidate the entire MacArthur Foundation. He dropped the suit later that same year when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.[22][23]

Leadership

John E. Corbally, the first president of the Foundation and later board chairman from 1995 to 2002, was followed in 1989–99 by Adele Simmons, who was the first female dean at Princeton University.[24][25] Jonathan Fanton, president of American Academy of Arts and Sciences, served as the Foundation's next president.[24][26] Robert Gallucci, formerly dean of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, served as the Foundation's fourth president from 2009 to 2014.[24][27] Gallucci was fired in 2014, with the Foundation's board announcing it was "looking for a new kind of leadership."[28] Julia Stasch, who formerly served as MacArthur's vice president for U.S. Programs, was named the Foundation's new president in 2015.[1] Stasch had formerly served as chief of staff to Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley.[29]

MacArthur Fellowship

The MacArthur Fellowship is an award issued by the MacArthur Foundation each year, to typically 20 to 30 citizens or residents of the United States, of any age and working in any field, who "show exceptional merit and promise for continued and enhanced creative work." The program was initiated in 1981.[30] According to the Foundation, the fellowship is not a reward for past accomplishment, but an investment in a person's originality and potential. MacArthur Fellows receive $625,000 each, which is paid out in quarterly installments over five years.[31] No one can apply for the program, and, generally, no one knows if he or she is being considered as a candidate. Nominators, serving confidentially, anonymously and for a limited time, are invited to recommend potential Fellows. Candidates are reviewed by a Selection Committee, whose members also serve confidentially, anonymously and for a limited time. Ultimately, the Committee makes recommendations to the Foundation's Board of Directors for final approval.[8]

100&Change

A competition launched on June 2, 2016, will award a $100 million grant to a single proposal designed to help solve a problem affecting people, places, or the planet. The Foundation’s competition, called "100&Change", is open to organizations working in any field of endeavor. Applicants must identify both the problem they are trying to solve, as well as their proposed solution. Competitive proposals must be meaningful, verifiable, durable and feasible. Eight semi-finalists were announced in February, 2017. A winning proposal is expected to be selected at the end of 2017.[32][33][34]

Local concern

In 2016, Phillip Jackson, of The Black Star Project, criticized the homogeneity of Chicago grant recipients. In response, MacArthur president Julia Stasch wrote that the critique "inaccurately and grossly understated our efforts to address the urgent problems that confront our city" and that "Since 1979, we have provided $1.1 billion in grants and direct impact investments to Chicago organizations—more MacArthur funds than to any other place in the world."[35]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "MacArthur Foundation: Our History". MacArthur Foundation. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  2. ↑ Nicas, Jack (September 20, 2011). "The New Class of 'Geniuses'". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Top 100 U.S. Foundations by Asset Size". Foundation Center. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
  4. 1 2 "MacArthur Foundation: Chicago Grants". Inside Philanthropy. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Program Budgets". MacArthur Foundation. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  6. ↑ "About Us". MacArthur Foundation. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  7. ↑ Daniels, Alex (January 11, 2016). "Inside MacArthur’s Rapid Strategic Shift to ‘Big Bets’". The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
  8. 1 2 Conrad, Cecilia (September 20, 2013). "Five Myths about the MacArthur 'Genius Grants'". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 23, 2016.
  9. 1 2 Nielsen, Waldemar (1996). Inside American Philanthropy: The Dramas of Donorship. University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 132–134. ISBN 9780806128023. Retrieved September 1, 2016 – via Google Books.
  10. ↑ Worley, Sam (August 17, 2015). "Can the MacArthur Foundation Find Its Mojo?". Chicago Magazine. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  11. ↑ Sherrow, Victoria (2009). Jonas Salk (Revised ed.). Infobase Publishing. p. 99. ISBN 9781438104119.
  12. ↑ Husock, Howard (December 4, 2015). "Trust Chan and Zuckerberg to Decide How to Spend Their Money for the Public Good". The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  13. ↑ Hauer, Peter W. (2011). The Big Picture: The Past, The Present, & Your Children's Future. Author House. p. 355. ISBN 9781420815351.
  14. ↑ Frantz, Douglas (July 7, 1985). "'Charitable Patronage' Still Gets Foundation's Work Done". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  15. ↑ Teltsch, Kathleen (May 25, 1991). "Foundation Leader Charting New Paths". The New York Times. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  16. ↑ Kathleen, Teltsch (June 3, 1984). "Suit to Continue Against Foundation". The New York Times. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  17. ↑ Kriplen, Nancy (2008). The Eccentric Billionaire: John D. MacArthur—Empire Builder, Reluctant Philanthropist, Relentless Adversary. Amacom. ISBN 9780814409626. Retrieved September 1, 2016 – via Google Books.
  18. ↑ Canning, C. (2015). On the Performance Front: US Theatre and Internationalism. Springer. ISBN 9781137543301. Retrieved October 13, 2016 – via Google Books. As historian Martin Morse Wooster comments...
  19. ↑ Dietlin, Lisa M. (2011). Transformational Philanthropy: Entrepreneurs and Nonprofits. Jones & Bartlett Publishers. ISBN 9781449667610. Retrieved October 13, 2016 – via Google Books. Martin Morse Wooster, a historian and author of the book The Greatest Philanthropists and the Problem of Donor Intent
  20. ↑ Brest, Paul; Harvey, Hal (2010). Money Well Spent: A Strategic Plan for Smart Philanthropy. John Wiley & Sons. p. 278. Retrieved October 12, 2016 – via Google Books.
  21. ↑ Morse Wooster, Martin (Summer 2008). "The Inscrutable Billionaire". Philathropy Magazine. Philanthropy Roundtable. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
  22. ↑ Kleban Mills, Barbara (September 10, 1984). "The MacArthur 'Genius' Awards Are Jeopardized as the Dying Patron Attacks the Foundation". People. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  23. ↑ Browning, Graeme (July 27, 1984). "The son of the man who established the $1.5 billion foundation". United Press International. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  24. 1 2 3 "MacArthur Foundation: Past Presidents". MacArthur Foundation. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  25. ↑ Fellers, Li (July 26, 2004). "Dr. John Corbally, 79: First President Helped Establish MacArthur Foundation Identity". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  26. ↑ "People in the News (4/20/14): Appointments and Promotions". Philanthropy News Digest. April 20, 2014. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
  27. ↑ Spector, Mike (March 10, 2009). "Former Diplomat to Lead MacArthur Foundation". The Wall Street Journal. p. A2. Retrieved March 10, 2009.
  28. ↑ Callahan, David (May 3, 2014). "Why Did Mac Sack Bob?". Inside Philanthropy. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
  29. ↑ Callahan, David (March 13, 2015). "Julia Stasch Atop MacArthur: Change or More of the Same? Maybe Both". Inside Philanthropy. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
  30. ↑ Reich, Howard (January 12, 2016). "MacArthur Fellows Program unveils wide-ranging events". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  31. ↑ Calamur, Krishnadev (September 29, 2015). "'Geniuses' Revealed". The Atlantic. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
  32. ↑ Hauser, Christine (June 2, 2016). "MacArthur Foundation Will Award $100 Million for Solution to a Global Problem". The New York Times. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
  33. ↑ Johnson, Steve (June 2, 2016). "MacArthur Foundation has $100 million for a problem solver". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
  34. ↑ Foster, William (June 28, 2016). "A 'Wow!' Moment In US Philanthropy: MacArthur Foundation's $100 Million Competition". Forbes.
  35. ↑ Stasch, Julia (June 1, 2016). "MacArthur chief: We have an unwavering commitment to Chicago". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
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