ANN ARBOR — University of Michigan anthropologist Erik Mueggler was one of 24 MacArthur Fellows named today (Sept. 25) by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Mueggler, an associate professor of anthropology, will receive $500,000 over the next five years in what the foundation describes as support with no strings attached. Mueggler, 40, explores Chinese communities to enrich the understanding of ethnic minorities in China’s vast political, social and cultural landscape. He examines how repercussions of the Cultural Revolution continue to be seen in the daily lives of ordinary people in the provinces of southwestern China. "Our department is honored by this prestigious award to Erik Mueggler, one of the rising stars in cultural anthropology," said Conrad P. Kottak, chairman of the University’s department of anthropology. "We will do all we can to make his tenure as a MacArthur fellow a productive and creative one." This year’s fellows were "highly focused and tenacious and distinctively fresh and original in approach," said Daniel J. Socolow, director of the MacArthur Fellows Program. "They are extraordinary people doing extraordinary things." The U-M has had 19 award recipients since 1981, including Mueggler. He is the fourth person from the department to receive this honor. Other recipients have been Ruth Behar (1988) and Henry T. Wright (1993). Sherry Ortner, who is now at Columbia University, received the award as a U-M faculty member in 1990. "It’s an enormous honor," Mueggler said. He said he was uncertain how he’ll use the money, "but it will spur me to be more creative." Mueggler received a B.A. degree in 1987 from Cornell University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1990 and 1996, respectively. He joined the anthropology department faculty in 1996, and has been an associate professor since 2001. He has received many grants and fellowships for his research, including a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship (1996). Mueggler wrote "The Age of Wild Ghosts" (2001), and his articles have appeared in "The Journal of Asian Studies," "Cultural Anthropology," and "Modern China." The foundation, created in 1978, is one of the largest private philanthropic foundations in the United States. With $4.2 billion in assets, the foundation makes grants totaling approximately $180 million annually. Including this year’s group, 635 people, ranging in age from 18 to 82, have been named MacArthur Fellow since the program’s inception in 1981. For more information on the MacArthur Foundation, visit http://www.macfound.org/. For more information on Mueggler, visit http://www.lsa.umich.edu/anthro/faculty_staff/mueggler.html. To learn more about the department of anthropology, see http://www.lsa.umich.edu/anthro/