[bksvol-discuss] Jim Fruchterman named MacArthur "genius" Fellow
- From: "Janice Carter" <Janice.C@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2006 10:49:14 -0700
Big Announcement! Thought you should know that Bookshare.org's founder, Jim
Fruchterman, was named a MacArthur Foundation "genius" Fellow yesterday for his
work in using technology for the benefit of many. In particular, the
MacArthur Foundation chose Jim for his work in creating affordable devices that
aid the visually impaired and others underserved by traditional commerce.
Please join all of us at Benetech in giving Jim a big round of applause!
Three locals among winners of $500,000 'genius grants'
Posted on Tue, Sep. 19, 2006
San Jose Mercury News, By Karen de Sá
A Silicon Valley entrepreneur disillusioned with technology for profit. A
chemist tackling infectious disease among the rural poor. An aviation engineer
plotting collision-free skies. These are the Bay Area winners of this year's
MacArthur ``genius'' grants, announced today by the Chicago-based John D. and
Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The $500,000 awards herald some of the
nation's most creative thinkers across a variety of disciplines --
professionals who further the foundation's goal of fostering``improvement in
the human condition.'' This year's 25 winners will receive no-strings-attached
support for five years. The Bay Area is typically a MacArthur-rich area, and
this year is no exception. James Fruchterman, 47, of Palo Alto, is an
electrical engineer who adapts technologies into affordable devices for the
blind. Victoria Hale, 45, heads a ground-breaking non-profit pharmaceutical
firm in San Francisco that develops drugs for populations in Asia and Africa.
And Claire Tomlin, 37, is an aviation engineer at Stanford University and the
University of California-Berkeley who uses mathematical principles to help
pilots and air traffic controllers avoid mid-air collisions. All three
researchers are expanding into new areas of research and application. This
mirrors the goals of the 22 other MacArthur fellows nationwide, who include a
sculptor, a country doctor, a jazz violinist, a journalist and a deep-sea
explorer. For Hale, CEO of OneWorld Health, news of the MacArthur grant added
to a week of good fortune. This month, the Indian government approved use of an
injectable antibiotic her firm developed for treatment of a deadly parasitic
disease known as ``black fever.'' Hale's firm has been studying the drug's
effectiveness for two years. Fed by extreme poverty among people who live in
mud huts or under thatched roofs where tiny sand flies live, the disease kills
at least 1 million people each year. But there's been little incentive for drug
companies to develop treatment, Hale said. Most black fever patients are too
poor to pay for life-saving medications. In a clinical trial Hale has overseen
in the Indian state of Bihar, 95 percent of patients treated for visceral
leishmaniasis were cured after treatment with paromomycin, an injectable
antibiotic which is no longer under patent. OneWorld Health will now contract
with Indian manufacturers to distribute the drug to sufferers of the illness --
the second most deadly parasitic disease in the world, following malaria. The
concept of a non-profit pharmaceutical is so novel -- and potentially so
expansive -- that Hale said she is now flooded with new opportunities, in
addition to malaria and diarrhea projects already under way. Hale's strategy in
India as a Westerner wanting to avoid ethical and ethnic conflicts was to ask
questions and ``then shut up,'' she said. Now, she plans to listen to her own
thoughts. ``I need some time away to reflect on what we've done and consider
and envision where we can go in the future,'' she said. ``We could get really
big, really fast -- but how big and how fast? I need to be able to be the CEO
instead of the project team leader.'' Fruchterman also will use his MacArthur
fellowship to serve populations left out of the global marketplace. The founder
of the non-profit software firm Benetech has designed reading systems for the
blind using optical-character-recognition technology. His work has been
reproduced in 60 countries and a dozen languages. Fruchterman also developed a
secure, computer-based reporting system for organizations collecting
information on human rights violations, as well as a state-of-the-art land mine
detector for war-torn countries. There are very few high-tech entrepreneurs who
have shifted to non-profit social ventures, Fruchterman said, and he is pleased
the MacArthur fellowship has recognized him, particularly because he hopes to
write a book and inspire others. ``I'd like to help people not be as lonely as
I was the first few years,'' he said, ``feeling like I was the only guy in
Silicon Valley not trying to make a billion dollars.'' Like the other Bay Area
MacArthur fellows, engineer Tomlin also plans to expand her research. Tomlin's
focus to date has been aircraft technology. But with MacArthur funding and the
stretch of imagination typical to the foundation's awardees, she hopes to
extend her work into biology -- using mathematical models to help understand
how cells communicate.
Contact Karen de Sá at kdesa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx or (650) 688-7550.
© 2006 MercuryNews.com and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.mercurynews.com
Posted on Tue, Sep. 19, 2006
Janice Carter
Director, Literacy Programs
Benetech
480 S. California Ave., Suite 201
Palo Alto, CA 94306-1609 USA
(650) 644-3422 direct
(650) 759-5828 cell
(650) 475-1066 fax
janice.c@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Benetech - Technology Serving Humanity
A Nonprofit Organization
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