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Two faculty members whose work focuses on the issues of today-urban poverty and the ownership of electronic information-have been awarded prestigious and highly prized MacArthur Fellowships. Pamela Samuelson and Loïc J.D. Wacquant are among 23 new fellows selected by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to receive fellowships of $150,000 to $375,000 over five years annually, depending on the age of the recipient. Professor Samuelson, who holds a joint appointment with the School of Information Management and Systems and the School of Law, was recognized for advancing the emerging field of intellectual property law. Samuelson, whose grant totals $295,000, said, "It was wonderful news. What I've been trying to do is be a bridge between computing professionals and the legal community to adapt copyright law to the new electronic environment." She is a co-director of the law school's Center for Law and Technology. Sociologist Wacquant, acting associate professor of sociology, is highly regarded for his work on urban poverty and an approach that bridges theoretical French human sciences with more empirical methods of American social science. Wacquant will receive $235,000 over the next five years. He has written extensively on urban poverty and recently completed major work on the subject. He has also addressed larger issues such as the transformation of American ghettos and the changing forms of urban poverty in Europe and in America. The two awards bring Berkeley's MacArthurs to a total of 22.. |