Ann Arbor Times

Two professors from the University of Michigan have been honored with the 2025 Guggenheim Fellowships. Benjamin Brose and Martin Murray are among the 198 selected individuals from the U.S. and Canada spanning 53 disciplines for this year's fellowship by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

Edward Hirsch, president of the Guggenheim Foundation, stated, “We believe that these creative thinkers can take on the challenges we all face today and guide our society towards a better and more hopeful future.”

Professor Benjamin Brose specializes in Chinese and Buddhist studies and serves as the chair of the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures. His research centers on Buddhism's history in China and cultural exchanges in East Asia. Brose's current work involves studying Gao Henian, a significant figure who documented his extensive pilgrimages across China. Brose expressed gratitude for the fellowship, saying, “This fellowship will make it possible for me to devote the next year to work on a new book project focused on the lives of Buddhist monastics and laypeople in China during the transformative and tumultuous period from 1860 to 1960.”

Professor Martin Murray, who focuses on urban planning and global urbanism, particularly in Johannesburg, is engaged in research on urban studies and planning. Murray's fellowship project will focus on the urban decline in Detroit, investigating abandoned spaces alongside colleagues Maria Arquero de Alarcon and Olaia Chivite. Murray reflected on the honor, stating, “I am quite honored... exploring out-of-the-way places and the people who inhabit them.”

The Guggenheim Fellowship provides recipients with monetary support to pursue independent work “at the highest level under the freest possible conditions.” Founded in 1925, the foundation has granted over $400 million in fellowships to more than 19,000 fellows.