Emeryville Scientist awarded 'genius grants'

33 year old Saul Griffith, co-founder of Squid Labs among others, was selected as a MacArthur fellow.

"I got a mysterious phone call last Thursday morning," said the Emeryville engineer. "It was very 'Mission Impossible': You will receive this one phone call. Your only responsibilities are to be nice to the media and cash the check."

The check from the MacArthur Foundation is actually 20 checks, delivered every three months, for the next five years totaling $500,000, with no strings attached.

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