The MacArthur Fellows Program is designed to emphasize the importance of the creative individual in society. Fellows are selected for the originality and creativity of their work and the potential to do more in the future. Candidates are nominated, evaluated, and selected through a rigorous and confidential process. No one may apply for the awards, nor are any interviews conducted with nominees.
Troutt Powell is the only faculty member in the southeastern United States and one of only four faculty from four-year colleges and universities to be named a 2003 MacArthur Foundation Fellow.
"Dr. Troutt Powell's selection by the MacArthur Foundation is but one more indicator of the amazing strength and ability of the University of Georgia faculty," said President Michael F. Adams. "It also speaks to the quality of the faculty we have been able to attract in recent years, which bodes very well for the future of the University of Georgia."
Each new recipient first learned of being named a MacArthur Fellow during a phone call from the Foundation. "The call comes out of the blue and can be life-changing," said Jonathan F. Fanton, president of the MacArthur Foundation. "The Fellowship offers highly creative people the gift of time and the unfettered opportunity to explore, create, and accomplish."
"I am really, really grateful and astounded and also thrilled that my field is being represented here," said Troutt Powell. "The United States' relationship to the Middle East and how we are dealing with it has never been worse. I hope my work contributes in some way to understanding this vital part of the world."
The MacArthur Fellows Program places no restrictions on how recipients may use the $500,000 (paid out in equal quarterly installments over five years), and no reports are required. Rather, the stipend is an expression of confidence that the recipients know how to make best use of the Fellowship's resources and the visibility it can bring to advance their distinctive efforts. Just as there are no restrictions on how the Fellows use their awards, there are no constraints on the kinds of creativity that are recognized.
"Dr. Eve Troutt Powell is truly an outstanding faculty member who excels in teaching and scholarly work. She is admired by students for her passion, enthusiasm, intellect, and genuine interest in her students' education. She is equally admired as a scholar in Middle Eastern history. Her work is highly regarded by leading scholars thoughout the world," said Arnett C. Mace Jr., senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. "Her recent work in modern Arab and Middle Eastern history is described as path-breaking. We are proud of her many excellent achievements and being named a recipient of this very prestigious award."
"The annual announcement of the MacArthur Fellows is a special opportunity to celebrate the creative individual in our midst," said Fanton. "For over two decades, the MacArthur Fellows Program has been at the core of the Foundation's efforts to recognize and support individuals who inspire us. The new MacArthur Fellows illustrate the Foundation's conviction that talented individuals, free to follow their insights and instincts, will make a difference in shaping the future."
Wyatt Anderson, dean of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, was enthusiastic about the award.
"We are delighted that Dr. Troutt Powell has received this prestigious award, and we think that her work has certainly earned this distinction," he said. "It is a high honor for an outstanding faculty member."
Edward J. Larson, head of the history department, professor of history and law, and recipient of the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for history, echoed that sentiment. "I have watched Eve Troutt Powell develop as a scholar since she came to the University of Georgia as an assistant professor in 1995. Her most recent book, A Different Shade of Colonialism: Egyptian Nationalism and the Mastery of the Sudan, 1875-1925, is simply brilliant. It draws on a rich variety of sources and interprets them in important new ways, he said. "She richly deserves this fellowship. I could not be more proud of her or happy for her family. Hearing this wonderful news makes my day!"
In 1983, Troutt Powell, who had just graduated magna cum laude from Harvard, found herself standing in Cairo wondering about street signs. She was taking a year off to make the grand tour of ancient temples when she realized how little she really knew about contemporary Egypt. She could not understand a word spoken by the people around her. She couldn't even read a street sign.
Before she arrived back home in New York City, she knew that her future was the past, and that past was written in Arabic.
"Americans have a tremendous misunderstanding of the vast diversity of this incredible area, the Middle East," she said. "We seem to be stuck in these images of fanatics, terrorists, and belly dancers when there's so much to know about the art, economy, politics, and culture of this region."
With two books now completed and a fluency in written and spoken Arabic, Troutt Powell has turned her inability to read street signs into an ever-expanding career.
She grew up in the Washington Heights section of New York City under the guidance of parents who were in the academic world. By age 10, she was fascinated with Tudor England and at age 18 was admitted to Harvard, where she earned her bachelor's degree in history and literature.
After returning from her year in Egypt, she was not ready for more schooling and instead took a job as a news-clerk and reporter-trainee at The New York Times. After two very interesting years, she resumed her education, receiving a master's degree in Middle Eastern Studies and then a doctorate in history and Middle Eastern Studies, both from Harvard, in 1988 and 1995, respectively.
Since coming to UGA, Troutt Powell has been on a mission to "open people's eyes" about the cultural and historical riches of the Middle East. In the 1990s, she went back to Egypt several times, including two one-year stints devoted largely to studying Arabic and to archival research.
"It's not as hard a language as people try to make it," she said of Arabic. "It's easy to learn. And it opened up the world of Cairo to me."
Troutt Powell describes UGA students as "eager and hungry" to learn about the Middle East. Because of the recent history of imperialism and borders imposed by external governments, the people of that area have had to struggle to forge national identities. Troutt Powell found that UGA students from the South "get it right away," and with a more profound understanding than many Harvard students could. She thinks this surprising identification with the Middle East may revolve around a strong regional identity here in the South.
She especially enjoys using film in her classes to tell the story of the Middle East. Such classics as Lawrence of Arabia, with its sweeping picture of shifting loyalties in the World War I period help give students a strong image of the land and people. Students also see documentaries and even comedies from the area.
The most satisfying part of teaching Middle Eastern history is when her classes go beyond lecturing.
"It's at the point when I've said all I have to say and the students take off and run with their own ideas," said Troutt Powell. "It's truly exciting to see them suddenly understand this marvelous place."
She has presented papers at numerous scholarly events, has won many honors and is currently a Lilly Teaching Fellow at UGA. Her book The African Diaspora in the Mediterranean Lands of Islam, written with John Hunwick of Northwestern University, was published by Markus Wiener Press, Inc., in 2002, and Different Shades of Colonialism: Egypt, Great Britain and the Mastery of the Sudan, 1865-1925 was published in May by the University of California Press.
In general, her research revolves around nationalism in the Middle East, Arabic literature, and the area's slavery in the late 19th century.
Citing her mother as a source of inspiration for her work and achievement, Troutt Powell said, "My mother earned a Ph.D. when I was 18 and had just finished my freshman year at Harvard. She wasn't of an academic background when I was growing up, although she was a teacher. It's her achievement at getting her doctorate from Columbia University after being widowed and left with three kids that I honor."
Troutt Powell spends most of her spare time enjoying the company of her husband, Timothy Powell, an associate professor in UGA's department of English, and their sons, Jibreel, 8 ½, and Gideon, 2. Still, traveling is a passion.
The world's attention has been riveted for decades to the Middle East because of its problems. Maybe it's time, said Troutt Powell, that we look there for its beauties and truths as well.
The year 2003 is one of particular significance for the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, marking its 25th year of grantmaking. As one of the nation's largest private philanthropic foundations, MacArthur has awarded more than $3 billion in grants since it
began operations in 1978, and today has assets of approximately $4 billion. The Foundation believes its grantmaking is most effective when focused upon a relatively few areas of work, combined with sufficient resources over a long enough period of time to make a measurable difference. Through the support it provides, the Foundation fosters the development of new knowledge, nourishes individual creativity, helps strengthen institutions, participates in the formation of effective policy, and provides information to the public, primarily through support for public interest media. Annual grantmaking totals approximately $175 million.