Clark University Alumna Receives Prestigious Award

WORCESTER, MA — Clark University is celebrating a momentous achievement for one of its alumnae.

Margaret Wickens Pearce, who graduated from the university with a master’s in 1995 and a Ph.D in 1998, was named a 2025 MacArthur Fellow, according to a news release from the university. The fellowship, which awards extraordinarily creative individuals, grants an $800,000 stipend.

The award from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation recognizes Pearce’s work as a cartographer, where she creates maps that foreground Indigenous people’s understanding of land and place.

“I feel very moved to be recognized,” said Pearce. “I feel a responsibility to use the skills and the dedication. I have to make change wherever I can.”

Once Pearce began her professional career, she realized that Indigenous people were left absent from cartography, according to the news release. Much of her early work revisualizes past landscapes, and now she uses her job to make visible Indigenous claims and ties to North America.

“Please join me in congratulating Dr. Pearce for her achievement, commitment to making our world a better place, and representing Clark so well,” Clark University President David Fithian said. “Her contribution to society is important, impactful, and meaningful.”

You can learn more about Pearce’s work here.

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