Last Updated on August 7, 2026 by Daily News Staff

Every day, billions of people make video calls, join virtual meetings, send text-message donations during disasters, and stay connected with loved ones over the internet.

Few realize that one of the pioneers behind these technologies is Marian Croak, an engineer, inventor, and technology leader whose work has fundamentally changed how the world communicates.

Despite holding more than 200 U.S. patents and helping shape modern internet communications, Croak remains largely unknown outside the technology community. That’s exactly why she deserves a place in our Forgotten Genius Fridayseries.

From Engineering to Innovation

Marian Rogers Croak earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University before completing a Ph.D. in Social Psychology and Quantitative Analysis at the University of Southern California.

Her unique combination of engineering expertise and an understanding of human behavior would become one of her greatest strengths. Rather than simply building technology, she focused on solving real-world communication problems.

She joined Bell Labs, later becoming part of AT&T, where she spent decades developing new telecommunications technologies.

Helping Create the Internet Calling Revolution

For much of the twentieth century, telephone calls relied on dedicated telephone lines.

Croak helped pioneer technologies that made Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) practical, allowing voice conversations to travel over internet networks instead.

Today, VoIP powers countless services, including:

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• Zoom
• Microsoft Teams
• WhatsApp calling
• FaceTime
• Internet-based business phone systems
• Telemedicine appointments

Millions of remote workers, students, families, and businesses depend on technologies that evolved from these innovations.

A Better Way to Help During Disasters

One of Croak’s most visible inventions came from a simple but powerful idea.

What if people could donate to disaster relief simply by sending a text message?

She led the development of systems that made text-to-donate campaigns possible.

Following disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake, millions of people contributed to relief efforts simply by sending a short text message. The technology helped raise tens of millions of dollars quickly, demonstrating how communication technology could save lives beyond making phone calls.

More Than 200 Patents

Croak has been awarded more than 200 U.S. patents covering internet communications, networking, emergency response systems, and digital collaboration.

Her inventions have influenced everything from enterprise communications to cloud networking and mobile technologies.

Leading Responsible Artificial Intelligence

In 2014, Croak joined Google as a Vice President of Engineering.

Today, she helps lead initiatives focused on Responsible AI and Human-Centered Technology, working to ensure artificial intelligence benefits society while addressing issues of fairness, accessibility, and trust.

Her career reflects an important lesson: innovation is not just about building powerful technology—it is also about building technology responsibly.

Honors and Recognition

Although Marian Croak spent decades working behind the scenes, her achievements have earned growing recognition.

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Among her honors are:

• National Inventors Hall of Fame inductee
• National Academy of Engineering member
• American Academy of Arts and Sciences fellow
• IEEE Founders Medal recipient

These awards recognize a lifetime devoted to improving how people connect with one another.

Why Marian Croak Matters

Many inventors create products.

Marian Croak created possibilities.

Every internet phone call between grandparents and grandchildren, every virtual doctor’s appointment, every online business meeting, and every text-message donation during a humanitarian crisis reflects technologies she helped make possible.

Her story reminds us that some of history’s greatest innovators work quietly behind the scenes, changing the world without becoming household names.

That’s exactly the kind of legacy Forgotten Genius Friday exists to celebrate.

Related Links

• National Inventors Hall of Fame – Marian Croak — An excellent overview of Croak’s career, her work advancing VoIP, text-to-donate technology, and her induction into the Hall of Fame. 
  Learn more about Marian Croak at the National Inventors Hall of Fame
• National Inventors Hall of Fame – The Problem-Solving Engineer — A deeper profile examining Croak’s path from an inquisitive young student to a telecommunications pioneer. 
  Read Marian Croak: The Problem-Solving Engineer
• Google – Marian Croak — Croak’s official Google author and leadership profile, including her work in Responsible AI and Human-Centered Technology. 
  Explore Marian Croak’s work at Google
• Google – Marian Croak’s Vision for Responsible AI — An interview exploring how Croak brought her decades of technological experience into the development of responsible artificial intelligence. 
  Read about Marian Croak’s vision for Responsible AI
• Princeton University – Marian Croak and Innovation — Princeton highlights Croak, a member of its Class of 1977, and her contributions to VoIP, innovation, mentorship, and women in STEM. 
  Read Princeton’s profile featuring Marian Croak

🧠 Discover the remarkable innovators, inventors, and trailblazers who helped shape our world but rarely receive the recognition they deserve. Share your thoughts in the comments and subscribe to the STM Daily News newsletter to catch every new Forgotten Genius Friday feature and more inspiring stories delivered to your inbox.

Last Updated on August 5, 2026 by Daily News Staff

The Best Neighborhoods in Downtown Los Angeles 

Downtown Los Angeles has undergone one of the most remarkable transformations of any urban center in the United States. Once known primarily as the city’s business district, DTLA has evolved into a vibrant collection of neighborhoods, each offering its own unique character, history, dining, entertainment, and cultural experiences.

Whether you’re a first-time visitor, a longtime Angeleno, or planning your next weekend adventure, these are some of Downtown LA’s must-visit neighborhoods.

Arts District: Where Creativity Comes to Life

The Arts District has become one of the city’s most exciting destinations. Former warehouses have been transformed into lofts, art galleries, coffee shops, breweries, and award-winning restaurants.

Visitors can spend hours exploring colorful murals, browsing independent boutiques, and discovering public art around nearly every corner. It’s a neighborhood that celebrates creativity while preserving its industrial roots.

Perfect for: Art lovers, photographers, foodies, and nightlife.

Historic Core: A Walk Through Old Los Angeles

The Historic Core showcases Downtown LA’s architectural heritage. Along Broadway and surrounding streets, beautifully restored theaters, historic hotels, and early 20th-century buildings tell the story of a booming city during Hollywood’s Golden Age.

Highlights include the iconic Bradbury Building, Grand Central Market, and numerous rooftop restaurants overlooking the skyline.

Perfect for: History buffs and architecture enthusiasts.

South Park: Entertainment Central

South Park is home to some of Los Angeles’ biggest attractions, including LA Live and Crypto.com Arena. The neighborhood has added thousands of apartments, new restaurants, hotels, and entertainment venues over the past two decades.

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Whether you’re attending a Lakers game, a concert, or simply enjoying dinner before an event, South Park offers something for everyone.

Perfect for: Sports fans, concerts, and nightlife.

Little Tokyo: A Cultural Treasure

One of only a handful of historic Japantowns remaining in the United States, Little Tokyo offers authentic Japanese cuisine, specialty shops, cultural events, museums, and peaceful gardens.

From fresh sushi and ramen to Japanese bakeries and tea houses, visitors can experience generations of cultural heritage in just a few city blocks.

Perfect for: Families, food lovers, and cultural exploration.

Bunker Hill: Downtown’s Cultural Heart

Bunker Hill combines modern architecture with world-class arts and culture. Home to Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Broad, the Museum of Contemporary Art, and Grand Park, this neighborhood is ideal for visitors looking to experience Downtown’s artistic side.

Its dramatic skyline and public spaces also make it one of the most photographed areas in Los Angeles.

Perfect for: Museum lovers and architecture fans.

Financial District: The Skyline of Los Angeles

Glass skyscrapers, luxury hotels, and bustling sidewalks define the Financial District. While it remains the city’s business center during the workweek, the neighborhood also offers excellent dining, rooftop lounges, and convenient access to other parts of Downtown.

Chinatown: Tradition Meets Modern LA

Los Angeles’ Chinatown blends rich history with a growing collection of contemporary restaurants, galleries, and community events. Visitors can enjoy traditional cuisine alongside modern culinary experiences while exploring one of the city’s oldest cultural neighborhoods.

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Fashion District: A Shopper’s Paradise

Covering more than 100 city blocks, the Fashion District is one of the largest garment centers in the country. Whether you’re searching for fabrics, clothing, accessories, or bargains at Santee Alley, this neighborhood attracts shoppers from across Southern California.

A Downtown That Continues to Evolve

Downtown Los Angeles isn’t just one destination—it’s a collection of neighborhoods that reflect the city’s diversity, creativity, and resilience. From historic landmarks and world-class museums to vibrant street art and internationally inspired cuisine, DTLA offers something new around nearly every corner.

Whether you’re planning a day trip or an extended visit, exploring these neighborhoods is one of the best ways to experience the energy and history of Los Angeles.

Related External Links

• Discover Los Angeles – Explore Downtown LA
• Grand Central Market
• The Broad Museum
• Walt Disney Concert Hall
• Japanese American National Museum (Little Tokyo)
• Arts District Los Angeles
• LA Live
• LA Metro – Getting Around Downtown Los Angeles
• Olvera Street and El Pueblo Historic Monument
• Visit California – Los Angeles Travel Guide

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Every year, Americans send trillions of dollars to Washington through income taxes, payroll taxes, corporate taxes and other federal revenues. The federal government then sends trillions back across the country through Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, military spending, federal salaries, contracts, grants, infrastructure projects and dozens of other programs.

But the money doesn’t necessarily return to the states in the same proportions in which it was collected.

That’s where the terms “donor state” and “recipient state” come in.

What Is a Donor State?

Simply put, a donor state sends more money to the federal government than it receives back in federal spending.

Imagine taxpayers and businesses in a state contribute $100 billion to the federal government during a year. If federal spending within that state totals only $80 billion, the state has effectively contributed $20 billion more to the federal government than it received.

A recipient state experiences the opposite: federal expenditures within the state exceed the amount collected there in federal revenue.

These aren’t official federal government classifications, however. They’re terms commonly used by researchers analyzing the flow of money between individual states and Washington.

Only Three Donor States in 2023?

According to an August 2025 analysis from the Rockefeller Institute of Government using preliminary federal fiscal year 2023 data, only three states had negative balances—meaning they contributed more federal revenue than they received in federal expenditures.

Those states were:

New Jersey: approximately $18.9 billion more contributed than received.

Massachusetts: approximately $6.8 billion more contributed than received.

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Washington: approximately $54 million more contributed than received.

At first glance, that might suggest nearly every other state depends financially on those three states.

The reality is considerably more complicated.

COVID Changed the Numbers

Historically, several wealthy states—including California and New York—have frequently appeared on the donor side of the equation.

The enormous federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted that pattern.

Trillions of dollars in extraordinary federal spending flowed into states through stimulus payments, business assistance, unemployment programs, healthcare funding, state and local government assistance and other programs.

Even after the emergency phase of the pandemic ended, some of those expenditures continued influencing federal balance-of-payments calculations.

That’s one reason examining a single year can produce a misleading picture.

California: Recipient Today, Historical Donor

California provides perhaps the best example.

In fiscal year 2023, California technically received slightly more federal spending than it contributed—approximately $342 more per person.

But look at the longer-term numbers and the picture changes.

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Using a nine-year average that excludes COVID-related spending, Rockefeller Institute researchers calculated California’s average balance at approximately negative $29 billion.

In other words, over a more typical period, California has historically contributed substantially more to the federal government than it received.

Its enormous economy, high incomes and large number of taxpayers generate tremendous amounts of federal revenue.

New York Tells a Similar Story

New York has also historically ranked among America’s major donor states.

Yet in 2023, New York had a positive federal balance of approximately $13.3 billion, receiving roughly $1.04 in federal expenditures for every $1 it contributed.

Researchers attributed much of the change from New York’s historical pattern to lingering pandemic-era federal expenditures.

As those programs disappear from the calculations, New York could return to its traditional position as a donor state.

Arizona Is a Net Recipient

Arizona presents a different picture.

Over the Rockefeller Institute’s nine-year analysis, Arizona averaged a positive federal balance of approximately $44.5 billion.

Even after excluding COVID-related spending, Arizona’s average remained positive at roughly $35.3 billion.

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That means federal expenditures flowing into Arizona have substantially exceeded federal revenue collected from the state.

But that doesn’t mean Arizona simply receives tens of billions of dollars in “welfare.”

Federal spending includes far more than public assistance.

Arizona hosts military installations, federal lands and agencies, defense and aerospace operations, veterans programs and a significant retiree population receiving Social Security and Medicare.

All of those expenditures count toward the state’s federal balance.

Texas Receives More Than It Sends

Texas also had a substantial positive balance in 2023.

Federal expenditures exceeded revenues collected from Texas by approximately $80 billion, making it one of the country’s largest net recipients in total dollars that year.

Again, the number needs context.

Texas is home to major military installations, NASA operations, defense contractors, federal infrastructure projects and millions of Social Security and Medicare recipients.

Those federal dollars all count as money flowing back into the state.

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The Surprising Leader: Virginia

If recipient-state status simply meant dependency on federal welfare programs, Virginia would seem like an unlikely candidate to lead the country.

Yet Virginia recorded the nation’s largest positive federal balance in 2023 at approximately $145.4 billion.

Why?

Location.

Virginia sits next to Washington, D.C., and contains an enormous concentration of federal employees, military installations, government contractors and defense spending.

Neighboring Maryland ranked second with a positive balance of approximately $81.1 billion.

The numbers illustrate why federal balance-of-payments statistics should not automatically be interpreted as measurements of welfare dependency.

A recipient state isn’t necessarily a “welfare state.” Federal expenditures include Social Security, Medicare, military installations, defense contracts, federal salaries, research, infrastructure, grants and other programs.

Where Does the Federal Money Actually Go?

Federal expenditures flowing into a state can include:

• Social Security
• Medicare and Medicaid
• Military bases and personnel
• Defense contracts
• Federal employee salaries
• Highway and transit funding
• Scientific and university research
• Agricultural programs
• Veterans benefits
• Disaster assistance
• Federal grants
• Infrastructure projects
• Federal agency operations

A state containing a large military installation, federal laboratory or government agency can therefore receive billions of federal dollars without that money having anything to do with traditional public assistance programs.

Why Wealthier States Often Become Donors

Federal income taxes are progressive.

People with higher incomes generally pay a larger percentage of their income in federal income taxes.

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States containing large concentrations of high-income households and highly profitable companies can consequently generate enormous amounts of federal revenue.

That helps explain why states such as California, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts have historically appeared frequently among net contributors.

The federal government doesn’t earmark the taxes collected in California exclusively for California.

The money enters the national treasury and helps finance programs throughout the United States.

In that sense, federal taxation intentionally redistributes resources geographically as well as economically.

So Are Donor States “Subsidizing” Recipient States?

In a broad accounting sense, yes.

Federal revenue collected disproportionately from some states helps finance federal expenditures occurring elsewhere.

But describing the relationship simply as one state “paying for” another leaves out important context.

Federal spending follows national priorities rather than state borders.

A Navy base in Virginia protects the entire country. NASA facilities in Texas conduct missions funded by taxpayers nationwide. Social Security benefits paid to a retiree in Arizona may reflect payroll taxes that person paid while working decades earlier in California, Illinois or New York.

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Americans and businesses also move between states throughout their lives.

The federal system was never designed to ensure that every dollar collected within a state’s borders would eventually return to that same state.

The Bigger Picture

The donor-state debate is often used as political ammunition, particularly when politicians argue about which parts of the country are supporting others.

The numbers are real, but they require context.

A state can move from donor to recipient status because of a recession, natural disaster, military spending, demographic changes, infrastructure investments or extraordinary events such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

That’s why examining several years of data generally tells us more than looking at a single year.

Ultimately, the donor-versus-recipient calculation reveals something fundamental about the United States:

Federal taxes don’t remain where they’re collected.

They become part of a national pool used to fund programs, obligations and investments across all 50 states.

And depending on where you live, your state may be putting more into that pool—or taking more out—at any particular moment.

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Related External Links

• Rockefeller Institute of Government – 2025 Balance of Payments Report
• USAspending.gov – Explore Federal Government Spending
• USAspending.gov – Federal Spending Guide
• IRS – Individual Income Tax Data by State
• IRS – Federal Taxes Collected by State

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