[bksvol-discuss] Re: Jim Fruchterman named MacArthur "genius" Fellow
- From: "Shelley L. Rhodes" <juddysbuddy@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 19 Sep 2006 15:16:18 -0400
Quite cool, and awesome!
Shelley L. Rhodes B.S. Ed, CTVI
and Judson, guiding golden
juddysbuddy@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Guide Dogs For the Blind Inc.
Graduate Alumni Association Board
www.guidedogs.com
Dog ownership is like a rainbow.
Puppies are the joy at one end.
Old dogs are the treasure at the other.
Carolyn Alexander
----- Original Message -----
From: "Janice Carter" <Janice.C@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; <bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 1:49 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Jim Fruchterman named MacArthur "genius" Fellow
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 Clai
re 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 he
lp 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
To unsubscribe from this list send a blank Email to
bksvol-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
put the word 'unsubscribe' by itself in the subject line. To get a list of
available commands, put the word 'help' by itself in the subject line.
--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.405 / Virus Database: 268.12.5/450 - Release Date: 9/18/2006
To unsubscribe from this list send a blank Email to
bksvol-discuss-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
put the word 'unsubscribe' by itself in the subject line. To get a list of
available commands, put the word 'help' by itself in the subject line.
Other related posts:
