A saxophonist on NYU’s faculty wins a “genius grant”

Immanuel Wilkins, a Grammy-nominated saxophonist and composer, has been named a 2026 MacArthur Fellow. The fellowship comes with $800,000 over five years, and NYU’s announcement describes him as the youngest of this year’s fellows. He has taught as an adjunct at the School of Professional Studies since 2020.

Born in Philadelphia, he moved to New York in 2015 to attend Juilliard and built his career around the Immanuel Wilkins Quartet. His debut album, Omega, was named the best jazz album of 2020 by The New York Times; this year he was nominated for two Grammys, and a three-volume Live at the Village Vanguard came out on Blue Note. He also works in visual art and sculpture, including an immersive installation, Recess, that opened in North Philadelphia this year.

He said the fellowship will give him “a certain boundlessness of creativity”. The 2026 class also includes Maaza Mengiste (GSAS ’07), a novelist who studied in NYU’s creative writing programme.