Manil Suri, a professor of mathematics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and author of the critically acclaimed novel "The Death of Vishnu," has been awarded a 2004 Guggenheim Fellowship for exemplary work in the field of fiction writing.

Suri was among the diverse group of 185 artists, scholars and scientists selected for Guggenheim Fellowships from a field of over 3200 applicants. Results of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation's eightieth annual United States and Canadian competition, with the combined awards totaling nearly $7 million, were announced earlier this month by Foundation president Edward Hirsch.

Suri, a seriously engaged mathematics researcher and teacher, has taught at UMBC since 1983. Suri's fiction was largely unknown, even to his UMBC colleagues, until the publication of an excerpt from "Vishnu" appeared in the February 14, 2000 issue of The New Yorker.

Suri was named a Time magazine "Person to Watch" in 2001, and is currently working on the second novel of a planned trilogy. "The Death of Vishnu," published by W.W. Norton & Company in 2001, garnered rave reviews from critics; including those writing for Publisher's Weekly, The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, the Boston Sunday Globe, Booklist, and Library Journal.

About the Guggenheim Fellowship Program:

In a time of decreased funding for individuals in the arts, humanities, and sciences, the Guggenheim Fellowship program has assumed a greatly increased importance and the Foundation is successfully raising funds to enable the appointment of a larger number of Fellows each year. Since 1925 the Foundation has granted more than $230 million in Fellowships to over 15,500 individuals. The full list of year 2004 Fellows is online at http://www.gf.org.