A professor whose research is helping the Oakland Police Department improve its strained relationship with the black community is among the 21 winners of this year's MacArthur Foundation "genius grants.''
Jennifer Eberhardt is a Stanford University social psychologist who has researched racial stereotypes and crime.
The Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation announced the 2014 recipients Wednesday. They will each receive $625,000 to spend any way they like.
Eberhardt's work prompted the Oakland Police Department to ask for her help studying racial biases among its officers and how those biases play out on the street – topics that have been debated nationally in the wake of the police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old in Missouri.
Eberhardt is also studying the use of body cameras by police.
The awards, given annually since 1981, are doled out over a five-year period. This year's class brings the number of recipients to more than 900.
Most winners are not widely known outside their fields, but the list has over the years included writer Susan Sontag and filmmaker John Sayles.
