John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a foundation that the U.S. insurer John D. MacArthur (1897-1978) - together with his wife Catherine MacArthur (1909-1981) - founded.

It awards since 1981, each with $ 500,000 over five years -scholarships " MacArthur Fellowship " for creative minds and scientists in the United States. Also, the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) public television in the USA, is supported by it.

The price has a high reputation in the U.S., where it is also called Genius Award.

History

William T. Kirby, the lawyer of John MacArthur, and Paul Doolen, its CFO exercise suggested that MacArthur should set up a foundation that should be supplied by their enormous fortune. The foundation charter was drawn up two pages long and in a simple English by Kirby.

When John D. MacArthur died on 6 January 1978, as he had a fortune of over one billion U.S. dollars and was one of the three richest people in the United States. 92 % of his estate went as endowment of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. In the first Supervisory Board of the Foundation, which was set last will and testament of John D. MacArthur, Catherine T. MacArthur sat ( his widow ), J. Roderick MacArthur (his son from his first marriage ), two other senior executives of Bankers Life and Casualty, as well as radio host Paul Harvey. John D. MacArthur was politically conservative, and had views that, did not share his son, J. Roderick, and grandson, "Rick" MacArthur; the latter told from the views of his grandfather, they were " conventionally right ( ... ) His ideological thoughts were primitive. " By threatening with civil lawsuits against other members of the Supervisory Board, to operate negative publicity, J. Roderick reached gradually the resignation of the conservative members of the Supervisory Board and the President, Paul Doolen. When the conservative friends of John D. MacArthur resigned and in 1981 William E. Simon, the focus of the Foundation changed towards supporting a more liberal policy, which would have been for John D. MacArthur anathema.

The first chairman of the foundation was Doolen, who held the position from 1978 to 1980. He was succeeded by John Corbally as the second President of 1980 until 1989. Adele Simmons was the third president of the Foundation from 1989 to 1999.