Physicist, Chemist Will Receive Kyoto Prizes

In November, the Inamori Foundation in Kyoto, Japan, will award this year’s Kyoto Prizes to one winner in each of three categories: basic science, advanced technology, and arts and philosophy. Of the recipients, two are engaged in physics-related work.

The Kyoto Prize for Basic Science, given this year in Earth and planetary sciences, astronomy, and astrophysics, will be bestowed on Eugene N. Parker. The foundation is honoring Parker for “establishing a new perspective on astrophysics by elucidating the phenomena of the solar wind and cosmical magnetohydrodynamics.” He is the S. Chandrasekhar Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in the University of Chicago’s departments of physics and of astronomy and astrophysics, and in the university’s Enrico Fermi Institute. He retired in 1995.

This year’s Kyoto Prize for Advanced Technology recognizes work in materials sciences and engineering. The recipient, George M. White-sides, Mallinckrodt Professor of Chemistry at Harvard University, is being honored for “pioneering a technique of organic molecular self-assembly and its applications in the field of nanomaterials science.”

The laureates will each receive a diploma, a Kyoto Prize medal, and a cash prize of ¥50 million (approximately $420 000). They will convene at the University of San Diego next March for the third annual Kyoto laureate symposium.