Teresa Puthussery, an associate professor at UC Berkeley’s Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry & Vision Science, was at home enjoying her morning coffee when she got the call from the MacArthur Foundation. Assuming it was a spam call, she let the phone ring many times — and even Googled the number to find out who it might be — before finally picking up. “It wasn’t until they started reading out a description of my work that I was convinced that they had called the right person,” Puthussery said. “It’s certainly just really unexpected, and so humbling and gratifying.” Alongside Puthussery, the 2025 MacArthur Fellows include two UC Berkeley alums. Chemical engineer William Tarpeh received a Ph.D. in environmental engineering from Berkeley in 2017. Now, he’s an assistant professor at Stanford University, recognized for his work in creating sustainable solutions for wastewater treatment. Astrophysicist Kareem El-Badry received a Ph.D. in astronomy from Berkeley in 2021. Now, he’s an...