15 from Princeton named 2025 Guggenheim Fellows in program’s centennial year

In a milestone year marking the centennial of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, six faculty members and arts fellows from Princeton University, along with nine distinguished alumni, have been named 2025 Guggenheim Fellows.

The announcement was made as part of a broader celebration that includes a refreshed brand identity, a new website, and a special centennial exhibition to be held later this year.

This year’s Fellows were chosen from nearly 3,500 applicants across the United States and Canada through a rigorous peer-review process. The 198 recipients, selected for both their prior career achievements and exceptional promise, represent 53 disciplines and include scholars, artists, and scientists from 83 academic institutions and 32 US states, as well as two Canadian provinces.

The Guggenheim Fellowship provides a monetary grant to enable recipients to pursue independent work under the “freest possible conditions.”

Princeton’s strong presence in the 100th class of Fellows underscores the university’s continued leadership across academic and creative fields.

The following faculty and fellows from Princeton were named 2025 Guggenheim Fellows:

Maria Chudnovsky - Professor of Mathematics, for her contributions to graph theory and combinatorics. A 2003 Ph.D. graduate of Princeton, Chudnovsky returned to join the faculty in 2015.

Thomas Conlan - Professor of East Asian Studies and History, recognized for his scholarship in medieval Japanese history.

Rhodri Lewis - Senior Research Scholar and Lecturer with the rank of Professor in English, honored for his work in literary criticism, particularly focusing on the 16th and 17th centuries.

Carolyn Rouse - the Ritter Professor of Anthropology, awarded in the field of anthropology for her research on race, inequality, and visual ethnography. Rouse is also an accomplished documentary filmmaker.

yuniya edi kwon - 2023–25 Princeton Arts Fellow, honored in the field of music composition. Kwon is an interdisciplinary artist whose work spans composition, violin, voice, and performance art.

Peter S. Shin - a 2025–26 Hodder Fellow at the Lewis Center for the Arts, named for his work in music composition, often exploring Korean and American cultural intersections.

In addition to its current faculty, Princeton also boasts nine alumni who received Guggenheim Fellowships this year:

Laura Beers ’00 – Intellectual and Cultural History

Angela Esterhammer '90 – English Literature

Kellen Funk '18 – Law

Katherine Ludwig Jansen '95 – Medieval and Early Modern Studies

Katie Kitamura ’99 – Fiction

Annette Yoshiko Reed '02 – Religion

Accra Shepp ’84 – Photography

James Morton Turner '04 – History of Science, Technology, and Economics

Carla Williams ’86 – Photography

These alumni continue to make significant contributions to their respective fields, and their recognition further highlights the broad impact of the Princeton community in arts, scholarship, and public discourse.

A century of support for creative excellence

The Guggenheim Foundation, established in 1925 by US Senator Simon Guggenheim and his wife Olga in memory of their son, has awarded more than $400 million to over 19,000 individuals. Many Guggenheim Fellows have gone on to receive Nobel Prizes, Pulitzer Prizes, and other major honors.

“The Guggenheim Fellowship celebrates a century of support for the lives and work of visionary scientists, scholars, writers, and artists,” said Foundation President Edward Hirsch.

“We believe that these creative thinkers can take on the challenges we all face today and guide our society towards a better and more hopeful future.”

A special exhibition chronicling the Foundation’s impact will open 29 August 2025, at The New York Historical Society, showcasing rarely-seen materials from its archives and celebrating a legacy of transformative intellectual and creative work.

As the Foundation moves into its second century, the selection of Princeton faculty and alumni as Fellows reflects both the enduring excellence of its recipients and the continued importance of academic and artistic freedom in shaping society’s future.