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Congratulations to Kristina Olson, who has been selected as a 2018 MacArthur Fellow!

Fellows are selected for their exceptional creativity, as demonstrated through a track record of significant achievement, and manifest promise for important future advances.

UW’s Kristina Olson wins MacArthur Foundation ‘genius grant’

Kristina Olson , University of Washington associate professor of psychology, has been named one of this year’s MacArthur Fellows.

The Fellowship from the John T. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation comes with a $625,000 stipend, commonly known as the “genius grant,” for recipients to use as they see fit. The Chicago-based foundation announced 25 winners on Thursday.

Olson runs the Social Cognitive Development Lab at the UW and created the TransYouth Project , which is the nation’s largest longitudinal study of transgender children. She is considered a national leader in research into how children develop gender identity.

“I’m incredibly honored to have the work of my team celebrated by the MacArthur Foundation,” Olson said.

The official phone call from the foundation was such a surprise, Olson added, that she asked whether they’d contacted the right person.

“For a few days after I continued to think it was an elaborate prank,” she said. “Nonetheless, I’m grateful and thrilled.”

Read the entire article in UW News .

See the 2018 MacArthur Fellowship webpage for Kristina and all this year's awardees.