Announcement of The Shaw Laureates 2008

Tuesday, June 10: At today’s press conference in Hong Kong, The Shaw Prize Foundation announced The Shaw Laureates for 2008. Information was posted on the website www.shawprize.org at Hong Kong time 16:30 (GMT 08:30).

The Shaw Prize consists of three annual prizes: Astronomy, Life Science and Medicine, and Mathematical Sciences, each prize bearing a monetary award of one million US dollars. This will be the fifth year that the Prize has been awarded and the presentation ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday, September 9, 2008.

Details of the Shaw Laureates

Astronomy - awarded to Professor Reinhard Genzel, Managing Director of Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Germany, in recognition of his outstanding contributions in demonstrating that the Milky Way contains a supermassive black hole at its centre.

Life Science and Medicine - awarded jointly to Sir Ian Wilmut, Chair and Director of Reproductive Biology, The Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburg, UK, Professor Keith Campbell, Professor of Animal Development at the School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, UK and Professor Shinya Yamanaka, Professor of the Institute for Frontier Medical Science, Kyoto University, Japan for their recent pivotal innovations in reversing the process of cell differentiation in mammals, a phenomenon which advances our knowledge of developmental biology and holds great promise for the treatment of human diseases and improvements in agriculture practices.

Mathematical Sciences - awarded jointly to Professor Ludwig Faddeev, Director of Euler International Mathematical Institute, Petersburg Department of Steklov Institute of Mathematics, St. Petersburg, Russia and Professor Vladimir Arnold, Chief Scientist of Steklov Mathematical Institute, Moscow, Russia for their widespread and influential contributions to Mathematical Physics.

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Background

Established under the auspices of Mr. Run Run Shaw, the Prize honours individuals, regardless of race, nationality and religious belief, who have achieved significant breakthrough in academic and scientific research or application and whose work has resulted in a positive and profound impact on mankind.

The Shaw Prize is an international award managed and administered by The Shaw Prize Foundation based in Hong Kong. Mr. Shaw has also founded The Sir Run Run Shaw Charitable Trust and The Shaw Foundation Hong Kong, both dedicated to the promotion of education, scientific and technological research, medical and welfare services, and culture and the arts.