TALLAHASSEE, Fl. — Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, a dance professor at Florida State University, has been awarded the 2021 MacArthur Fellowship. The award is also known as the "genius grant."
Zollar was awarded for using the power of dance and artistic expression to celebrate the voices of Black women, as well as encouraging community organizing and civic participation.
With this fellowship, Zollar will be rewarded with $625,000 from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which grants talented individuals who have shown originality and dedication in their creative efforts in their career.
In addition, Zollar is the first FSU faculty member to receive a MacArthur Fellowship.
The Chicago-based foundation has awarded these "genius grants" every year since 1981 to motivate people with exceptional creative talents to continue pursuing their dreams. The foundation announced that 25 people will each receive the grants over five years to their discretion.
