Melanie Sanford, organometallic chemistry at the University of Michigan and all-around wonderful person, was named a 2011 MacArthur Fellow!

The MacArthur web site describes the award as follows:

The MacArthur Fellows Program awards unrestricted fellowships to talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction.

There are three criteria for selection of Fellows: exceptional creativity, promise for important future advances based on a track record of significant accomplishment, and potential for the fellowship to facilitate subsequent creative work.

You can read more about Melanie and her work at the MacArther web site or at her research group's site.

Congratulations Melanie!