American Council of Learned Societies Receives $500,000 from John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

Support represents the latest phase in the long-standing partnership between the Foundation and ACLS

NEW YORK, Aug. 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) has received a $500,000 gift from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to support its mission to advance the creation and circulation of knowledge about humanity and human endeavor, past and present.

The ACLS mission has emerged as especially urgent at a time when the value of the humanities and social sciences, efforts to elevate diverse histories and scholarly perspectives, and securities afforded by long-held principles of academic freedom have all come under attack.

ACLS is a vocal champion on both fronts, supporting scholars and research by awarding more than 400 fellowships and grants each year, and convening stakeholders from across a wide variety of institutions and roles in solutions-focused initiatives to help strengthen and reimagine higher education to best serve our present and future needs. In March 2025, ACLS joined the American Historical Association and the Modern Language Association in a federal lawsuit seeking to reverse the recent actions to devastate the National Endowment for the Humanities, including the elimination of grant programs, staff, and entire divisions and programs.

"ACLS is excited to continue developing our partnership with the MacArthur Foundation," said ACLS President Joy Connolly. "Both our organizations believe that expert knowledge is essential for a strong democracy and a healthy planet, and we are standing up for the free circulation of that knowledge in all our institutions and media. Partnerships like this are vital to our mission, and we're grateful for the Foundation's trust in us."

This support represents the latest phase in the long-standing partnership between MacArthur and ACLS, which began in the 1980s with the foundation's support of ACLS fellowships. Most recently, the two partnered on the virtual series held in 2022-23, "What Counts: MacArthur Fellows Reflect on Academic Reward Structures," which featured six MacArthur Fellows discussing how their distinctive approaches to scholarship did or did not fit traditional academy reward structures for career advancement in humanistic fields. Recognizing the need for higher education institutions to better recognize the value of humanistic scholarship that reaches beyond the campus to engage in urgent social issues, and utilizes digital methods, engages creatively across disciplinary lines, and relies on collaboration rather than solitary scholarship, MacArthur Fellows also offered their insights on what they see as the optimal path forward for a more inclusive academy for the next generation of scholars.

Formed a century ago, the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) is a nonprofit federation of 81 scholarly organizations. As the leading representative of American scholarship in the humanities and social sciences, ACLS upholds the core principle that knowledge is a public good. In supporting its member organizations, ACLS expands the forms, content, and flow of scholarly knowledge, reflecting our commitment to diversity of identity and experience. ACLS collaborates with institutions, associations, and individuals to strengthen the evolving infrastructure for scholarship.

The MacArthur Foundation boldly invests in creative solutions to urgent challenges, sparking hope for our future. We work on a few big bets that strive toward transformative change in areas of profound concern, including the existential threats of climate change, the challenges of criminal justice reform, revitalizing local news in the U.S., and corruption in Nigeria.

In addition, we maintain enduring commitments in our hometown Chicago, where we invest in people, places, and partnerships to build a more inclusive Chicago and in journalism and media, where we invest in more just and inclusive news and narratives.

We also make awards to extraordinarily creative individuals through the MacArthur Fellows program and for solutions to critical problems of our time through 100&Change. 

SOURCE American Council of Learned Societies