Faculty Honors

And geniuses? We’ve got geniuses!

Claire Tomlin (Linda A. Cicero / Stanford News Service photo)

Winter 2007 | Claire Tomlin, a Berkeley engineer studying systems to address problems in aircraft flight control and avoid collisions, has won a 2006 MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Fellowship.

Tomlin, an associate professor of electrical engineering and computer sciences, is one of 25 recipients of the coveted award, which comes with a $500,000 “no strings attached” grant over the next five years. Recipients are chosen for their creativity, originality and potential to make important contributions in the future.

With the announcement of Tomlin’s award, there are currently 28 MacArthur winners on the Berkeley faculty.

“Selection for a MacArthur Fellowship is the culmination of an intensive review of the creative efforts and promise of each fellow,” said MacArthur President Jonathan Fanton. “Our call comes as a complete surprise and offers the new fellows the gift of time and an unfettered opportunity to reflect, explore, and create.”

“I couldn’t really fathom it,” said Tomlin of the surprise call from the MacArthur Foundation. “It’s something I wasn’t expecting.”

Tomlin, who earned her doctorate at Berkeley in 1998, studies hybrid systems, particularly aircraft and air traffic control systems. She has developed algorithms to help determine when unsafe conditions may arise as variables and interactions become increasingly complex. Recently, she expanded her research to include biological systems, working on predicting the production of proteins by genes.

Tomlin said she plans to use part of her MacArthur grant to boost her background in the life sciences by taking courses in developmental and experimental biology.