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University of Hawai'i |
(808) 956-8856 Telephone |
For Immediate Release: |
December 15, 1998 |
Contact: Cheryl Ernst, (808) 956-5941 Donnë Florence, PIO, 808-956-3441 |
ABOUT THE JAPAN PRIZE IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY The Japan Prize is awarded to people from all parts of the world whose original and outstanding achievements in science and technology are recognized as having advanced the frontiers of knowledge and served the cause of peace and prosperity for mankind. The first prizes were awarded 1985. Each Japan Prize Laureate receives a certificate of merit and a commemorative medal. A cash award of ¥50 million is also presented in each prize category. Usually, two laureates are selected each year. No distinction is made as to nationality, occupation, race or sex. Only living persons may be named. Japan Prize Laureates are selected each December. The Presentation Ceremony is held in the presence of Their Majesties, the Emperor and Empress, in Tokyo in April of the following year. The event is also attended by the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the House of Councillors, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, foreign ambassadors to Japan and well over 1,000 other guests, including eminent academics, researchers and representatives of political, business and media circles. The week in which the Japan Prize is awarded is designated "Japan Prize Week." During this period the laureates attend commemorative lectures and academic discussions. They take part in various other activities, including a visit to the Science Council of Japan. The Japan Prize Preparatory Foundation was established Nov. 1, 1982, to create a prestigious international award in the fields of science and technology. The foundation was renamed The Science and Technology Foundation of Japan on May 5, 1983. Its purpose and activities were broadened to include the development and dissemination of ideas related to science and technology as well as the awarding of the Japan Prize. On Oct. 28, 1983, the Japanese government issued this cabinet endorsement establishing the Japan Prize: The official position of the Japanese Government is that the Japan Prize, to be bestowed by The Science and Technology Foundation of Japan, will serve to deepen the understanding of the role played by science and technology in furthering world peace and prosperity, thereby making a vital contribution to the positive development of mankind. Based on this judgment, the government agencies concerned are urged to offer whatever cooperation necessary in all phases pertinent to this prize. The first Japan Prizes were awarded in 1985 in the categories of Information and Communication and Biotechnology. A list of previous categories and the laureates honored follows this page.
JAPAN PRIZE LAUREATES, 1985-1998
1985, Information and Communication: John R. Pierce (USA), Professor Emeritus, Stanford University, for outstanding achievement in the field of electronics and communications technologies. 1985, Biotechnology: Ephraim Katchalski-Katzir (Israel), Professor, Tel Aviv University and Weizmann Institute of Science, for outstanding achievement in basic theory in the field of immobilized enzymes and their practical applications. 1986, Materials Technology: David Turnbull (USA), Professor, Harvard University, for pioneering contributions to materials science with impact on new materials technology such as amorphous solids. 1986, Medical Technology: Willem J. Kolff (USA), Professor, University of Utah, and head of the Institute for Biomedical Engineering, for research and development of artificial organs and their relevant technology. 1987, Improvement of Biological Functions: Henry M. Beachell (USA), former head of the Plant Breeding Department at the International Rice Research Institute and advisor to the Farms of Texas Company, and Gurdev S. Khush (India), head of the Plant Breeding Department at the International Rice Research Institute, joint award for development of the IR8 and IR36 strains for rice breeding strategies geared to the tropical and subtropical zones. 1987, Electro-Optics: Theodore H. Maiman (USA), former chief of research, Hughes Research Laboratories, and president of Maiman Associates Inc., for realization of the world's first laser. 1988, Energy Technology: Georges Vendryes (France), scientific advisor to the president of the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (CEA), for establishment of fast breeder reactor technology. 1988, Preventative Medicine: Donald A. Henderson (USA), Dean, Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health; Isao Arita (Japan), Director, Kumamoto National Hospital; and Frank Fenner (Australia), Professor Emeritus and Visiting Fellow, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University, joint award for the eradication of smallpox 1988 Preventative Medicine: Luc Montagnier (France), Chief of Department of Virus Tumours, Pasteur Institute, and Robert C. Gallo (USA), Chief of Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology, National Institutes of Health, joint award for discovery of the AIDS-causing virus and development of diagnostic methods. 1989 Environmental Science and Technology: Frank Sherwood Rowland (USA), Professor, University of California Irvine, for studies on the mechanisms of stratospheric ozone depletion by chlorofluorocarbons. (Rowland received the Nobel Prize in 1995.) 1989 Medicinal Science: Elias James Corey (USA), Professor, Harvard University, for pioneering contributions to the syntheses of prostaglandins and their related compounds which are of great therapeutic value. (Corey received the Nobel Prize in 1990.) 1990, Technology of Integration-Design, Production and Control Technologies: Marvin Minsky (USA), Professor, MIT, for establishment of an academic field named Artificial Intelligence and the proposal of fundamental theories in that field. 1990, Earth Science: William Jason Morgan (USA), Professor, Princeton University; Dan Peter McKenzie (U.K.), Professor, Cambridge University; and Xavier Le Pichon (France), Directeur du Département de Géologie, Ecole Normale Supérieure, joint award for initiation of the theory of plate tectonics and contributions to its development. 1991, Applied Mathematics: Jacques-Louis Lions (France), Chairman of Analysis and Systems Control, College de France, and President of National Center of Spaces Studies, for contributions to analysis and control of distributed systems and to promotion of applied analysis. 1991, Imaging Techniques in Medicine: John Julian Wild (USA), head of Physicomedical Institute, Minneapolis, for development of ultrasound imaging in medicine. 1992, Science and Technology of Material Interfaces: Gerhard Ertl (Germany), Director of Fritz-Haber Institute of Max Planck Society, Honorary Professor at the Free University Berlin and the Technical University Berlin, for contributions to the new development of the chemistry and physics of solid surfaces. 1992, Science and Technology for Biological Production: Ernest John Christopher Polge (U.K.), Scientific Director of Animal Biotechnology Cambridge Ltd., for discovery of a method of the cryopreservation of semen and embryos in farm animals. 1993, Safety Engineering and Disaster Mitigation: Frank Press (USA), President of U.S. National Academy of Sciences, for development of modern seismology and advancement of international cooperation in disaster science. 1993, Molecular and Cellular Technology in Medicine: Kary B. Mullis (USA), Founder and Vice President, Reserch of Atommic Tags, Inc., for development of the polymerase chain reaction. (Mullis received the Nobel Prize in 1993.) 1994, Aerospace Technologies: William Hayward Pickering (USA), Professor Emeritus, California Institute of Technology, for inspirational leadership in unmanned lunar and planetary exploration and for pioneering achievements in the development of spacecraft and deep space communications. 1994, Psychology and Psychiatry: Arvid Carlsson (Sweden), Professor Emeritus, Gothenburg University, for discovery of dopamine as a neurotransmitter and clarification of its role in mental and motor functions and their disorders. 1995, Materials Processing Technologies: Nick Holonyak Jr. (USA), Professor, Center for Advanced Study, and John Bardeen Professor, University of Illinois, for outstanding contributions to research and practical applications of light emitting diodes and lasers through pioneering achievements in the understanding of physical principles and the process technology of intermetallic compound semiconductors. 1995, Science and Technology for Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery which Conserves the Environment: Edward F. Knipling (USA), Retired Director, Entomology Research Division, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, for pioneer contributions in the development of integrated pest management by the sterile insect release method and other biological approaches. 1996, Information, Computer and Communication Systems: Charles K. Kao (USA), Vice-Chancellor and President, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, for pioneering research on wide-band, low-loss optical fiber communications. 1996, Neuroscience: Masao Ito (Japan), Director-General, Frontier Research Program, The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN), and President, Science Council of Japan, for elucidation of the functional principles and neural mechanisms of the cerebellum. 1997, Biotechnology in Medicine: Takashi Sugimura (Japan), President Emeritus of National Cancer Center and President of Toho University, and Bruce N. Ames (USA), Professor, University of California Berkeley, joint award for contribution to the establishment of fundamental concept on causes of cancer. 1997, Systems Engineering for an Artifactual Environment: Joseph F. Engelberger (USA), Chairman and Director of HelpMate Robotics Inc., and Hiroyuki Yoshikawa (Japan), former President, University of Tokyo, joint award for establishment of the robot industry and creation of a techno-global paradigm. 1998, Generation and Design of New Materials Creating Novel Functions: Leo Esaki (Japan), former President, University of Tukuba, for the creation and realization of the concept of man-made superlattice crystals which lead to generation of new materials with useful applications. (For earlier work, Esaki had received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1973.) 1998, Biotechnology in Agricultural Sciences: Jozef S. Schell (Belgium),
Director, Department of Genetic Principles of Plant Breeding, Max Planck
Institute fuer Zuechtungsforschung, Germany; and Marc C.E. Van Montagu (Belgium),
Professor, Faculty of Sciences, Laboratory of Genetics, University of Ghent,
joint award for establishment of the theory and method of the production
of transgenic plants. |
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