Wake Forest graduate Chip Thomas Jr. wins prestigious MacArthur ‘Genius Grant’
Public artist Dr. Chip Thomas, a 1979 Wake Forest graduate, has received a 2026 MacArthur Fellowship—popularly known as the “genius grant.” The prestigious award, presented annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, recognizes artists, scholars and visionaries for exceptional originality and dedication to their creative pursuits.
Fellows receive an unrestricted $800,000 award to use however they choose.
Thomas is the second Wake Forest graduate to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. Legendary poet and artist A.R. Ammons, who graduated in 1949, was selected as part of the inaugural class of MacArthur Fellows in 1981.
After graduating from Wake Forest, Thomas earned his medical degree and launched a 36-year career as a primary care physician on the Navajo Nation. During his time serving the community, he began creating large-scale public art, transforming overlooked and neglected structures—such as roadside buildings, grain silos, and water tanks—into immersive public works grounded in Diné history and contemporary life.
“I feel my art is a form of community care,” Thomas said.
Thomas’s fusion of primary care medicine, photography and public installations in rural spaces exemplifies the cross-disciplinary impact and creative independence the MacArthur Foundation honors.
Learn more about Thomas’s art and his work in the Navajo Nation on the official MacArthur Foundation website.
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