Volume 20: No. 8, September 2006

Richeson Tapped by MacArthur Foundation

Jennifer Richeson

The MacArthur Foundation announced on September 19, 2006 that Jennifer Richeson, Associate Professor of Psychology at Northwestern University, was among the 25 individuals selected as the 2006 MacArthur Fellows. Richeson is a social psychologist who studies the behavioral and cognitive consequences of prejudice and racial stereotyping.

"I got a call last Tuesday while I was standing on a street corner," said Richeson. "I had to prop myself up against a wall for a little while when they dropped the news."

Richeson uses a wide range of empirical methods, including fMRI, survey, implicit cognitive processing measures, and self-report measures, as she seeks to understand the dynamics of interracial interaction.

"People don't like you to study prejudice, and some of that has made me pause in my work," she said. "This award proves this is really worthy."

The MacArthur Fellows each receive $500,000 over a 5 year period, with a "no-strings-attached" policy.

Richeson earned her PhD in social psychology from Harvard University in 2000. Before joining the faculty at Northwestern, she was a visiting fellow at the Research Institute for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity at Stanford University, and an assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences at Dartmouth College.