A lighting designer and a structural engineer have each won a 2008 MacArthur Fellowship. Known as the “genius grant,” the fellowship comes with a “no strings attached” award of $500,000.
John Ochsendorf ’96 is a structural engineer and architectural historian who restores cathedrals and other structures of the distant past and identifies ancient technologies for use in contemporary constructions. His early studies investigated the construction of handwoven, fiber suspension bridges that spanned the deep ravines and connected the territories of the Inca Empire. At age thirty-four, he is an associate professor of architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Jennifer Tipton ’58 is regarded as one of the most versatile lighting designers working today, whose distinctive designs have redefined the relationship between lighting and performance. Best known for her work in dance, she has also designed lighting for dramas and operas of all scales. She recently said that lighting “creates a landscape for dancers to exist in”—but if it is done right, lighting is invisible to most people most of the time.