Miami University’s Daryl Baldwin Named MacArthur Fellow

BY ALTHEA E. PERLEY
Miami University journalism student

Daryl Baldwin, director of the Myaamia Center at Miami University, has won a prestigious McArthur Foundation "genius award."

A member of the Myaamia tribe, trained linguist and cultural preservationist, Baldwin has been instrumental in revitalizing the Myaamia language since 2001. After 15 years, this tribal-academic partnership with Miami University has grown from a staff of two to seven. And the former Myaamia Project is now the Myaamia Center where research and rediscovery of the Myaamia ways are helping students and tribal members.

Baldwin is among 23 McArthur Fellows this year. His fellowship allows for a stipend of $625,000, paid quarterly over five years, and can be used for anything Baldwin dictates.

“I feel very humbled others would think so much of our work and efforts to revitalize our language,” Baldwin, said in a press release issued by the university. “It is hard to put my reaction into words.”

The Cincinnati Enquirer featured the news about Baldwin on its front page today.

The Myaamia Center last month was awarded $182,406 in a grant from the National Science Foundation to continue its work revitalizing their endangered language.

And this year has 32 total Myaamia students on campus, the most to ever be enrolled at Miami's campus at the same time.

Photo: David Baldwin teaches at Miami University. -- Photo courtesy the MacArthur Foundation