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Inamori Foundation Announces 21st Annual Kyoto Prize Laureates for Lifetime Achievements in Technology, Science, and the Arts Two American Scientists, Austrian Classical Musician to Receive $460,000 Prizes November 10, 2005 in Kyoto, Japan KYOTO, JAPAN -- June 10, 2005 -- The Inamori Foundation (President: Dr. Kazuo Inamori) today identified the laureates who will receive its 21st Annual Kyoto Prizes, the international awards it presents to individuals and groups worldwide who have contributed significantly to mankind's betterment. This year's Kyoto Prize laureates will be U.S. electronics engineer Dr. George H. Heilmeier, 69, chairman emeritus of Telcordia Technologies, Inc.; U.S. ecologist Dr. Simon A. Levin, 64, a professor at Princeton University; and Austrian conductor and musician Nikolaus Harnoncourt, 75, an honorary member of the Vienna Concert House Society, the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Each laureate will receive a diploma, a Kyoto Prize Medal of 20-karat gold, and a cash gift of 50 million yen (approximately US$460,000) during a week of ceremonies beginning November 10, 2005, in Kyoto, Japan. In addition, the laureates will convene in San Diego, Calif. in early 2006 to participate in the fifth annual Kyoto Laureate Symposium. "Today, we are rushing ahead with incredible scientific and technological achievements, while inquiry into our spiritual nature lags deplorably," said Dr. Kazuo Inamori, founder and president of the Inamori Foundation. "It is my hope that the Kyoto Prize will encourage balanced development of both our scientific progress and spiritual depth, and hence provide impetus toward the structuring of new philosophical paradigms." Considered among the world's leading awards for lifetime achievement, the Kyoto Prize recognizes lifelong contributions in the categories of Advanced Technology, Basic Sciences and Arts and Philosophy. Advanced Technology The 2005 Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology focuses on the field of Electronics. Dr. George H. Heilmeier will receive the award for his groundbreaking research in the field of liquid crystals and his direct contributions to the development of the liquid crystal display (LCD). Though discovered in 1888, liquid crystals remained a laboratory curiosity for several decades and ultimately faded from the forefront of scientific research. During the early 1960s, the late Dr. Richard Williams discovered electro-optic effects in liquid crystals through his research at RCA Laboratories. In learning this, Dr. Heilmeier, a young RCA researcher at the time, felt the challenge to produce flat-panel displays by utilizing liquid crystals' unique properties. In 1964, Dr. Heilmeier discovered that an applied voltage could change the color of a dye-doped nematic liquid crystal; and later, he found that certain classes of nematic liquid crystals would turn from transparent to milky white upon the application of an electric field. This phenomenon, called "dynamic scattering," is what made flat-panel liquid crystal displays possible. At a press conference in 1968, RCA unveiled the world's first liquid crystal display prototypes, created by Dr. Heilmeier and his co-workers, which immediately attracted interest among researchers globally. The first commercial applications for LCDs began appearing in the early 1970s, led by Sharp's EL805 portable electronic calculator, which consumed as little as one percent of the power required by previous calculators employing fluorescent-tube displays. Researchers worldwide began improving LCD technology through miniaturization, higher resolution and even lower power requirements. Dr. Heilmeier's efforts to create a foundation for LCD technology thus triggered a revolutionary shift away from cathode-ray tubes, and LCDs are now indispensable to our modern society in applications ranging from palm-sized mobile phones to the most advanced home theater systems, laptop computers, video games, digital wristwatches, cameras and home appliances. Basic Sciences The 2005 Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences focuses on the field of Biological Sciences. Professor Simon A. Levin will receive the award for establishing the field of "spatial ecology" and expanding scientific understanding of the biosphere as a "complex adaptive system." Professor Levin's use of mathematical models to understand the complex patterns of the biosphere has made a substantial impact on environmental sciences and led to new methods of environmental protection. In 1974, with Dr. Robert T. Paine, he proposed the "patch dynamics model" that forms the basis of many current ecological models for marine and terrestrial ecosystems. He also demonstrated that high species diversity among competitors -- as observed, for example, in rocky inter-tidal communities, or in tropical rain forests -- can be maintained by recurrent disturbance. Professor Levin has actively collaborated with economists and environmental scientists to propose methods for dealing with environmental problems. His work has shown that ecosystems and the biosphere are not super-organisms, as previously suggested, but complex adaptive systems with apparent regularity emerging from self-organization processes. Among his primary concerns are the staggering losses in biodiversity worldwide that have resulted in the recent past from the mass production, consumption and waste disposal practices of human populations. His 1999 book, "Fragile Dominion," illustrates how the loss of biodiversity has created direct threats to human survival, and identifies a series of actions urgently necessary for maintaining biodiversity. In proposing many methods of biological conservation and ecosystem management, Professor Levin has made fundamental contributions to environmental science. Arts and Philosophy The 2005 Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy focuses on the field of Music. Mr. Nikolaus Harnoncourt will receive the award for his exceptional creativity as a conductor and performer who has contributed to the establishment of the "historically informed performance" of European early music, and who has extended his principles and interpretation to modern music as well. Mr. Harnoncourt is a gifted musician who has actively sought to recreate the original sounds of early musical compositions through a detailed analysis of their historical contexts. European music created prior to the 18th century, he has stated, functioned as a part of live "language" (Klangrede) and as an important form of communication in the cultural environment. Over time, however, the European music community came to prefer superficially beautiful sounds and flamboyant techniques. Mr. Harnoncourt has endeavored to restore music to the celebrated cultural position it once held. To achieve this goal, he unveils what the composer intended by restoring the original instruments and investigating the original scores and practices of the period, including performing methods, customs, and musical principles. Mr. Harnoncourt's devotion to the study of early music extends beyond his role as a cellist in the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and even includes studying original early musical instruments. In 1953, he, with his wife, Alice, organized the Concentus Musicus Wien (CMW). After four years of preparation, the group started to perform early music from the Baroque and Renaissance periods, eventually expanding their repertoire to include music from the Classic and Romantic periods. In 1971, Mr. Harnoncourt began recording all of Bach's cantatas with Mr. Gustav Leonhardt. These recordings were widely accepted as an epic and definitive work in the history of the "early music performance movement" that began in the early 1960s. In the mid-1970s, Mr. Harnoncourt joined forces with Jean-Pierre Ponnelle to stage a series of Monteverdi operas at the Zurich Opera House in a universally acclaimed cycle that contributed to a renaissance of Monteverdi's music. He conducted the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras in the 1980s and 1990s, respectively, as well as the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. In so doing, Mr. Harnoncourt has emerged as a pioneer who has broadened the boundaries of music by exploring its historical context both as a theorist and a practitioner. About the Inamori Foundation The Inamori Foundation was established in 1984 by Dr. Kazuo Inamori, Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Kyocera Corporation (NYSE:KYO). The Kyoto Prize was founded in 1985, in line with Dr. Inamori's belief that man has no higher calling than to strive for the greater good of society, and that mankind's future can be assured only when there is a balance between our scientific progress and our spiritual depth. It is characteristic of the Kyoto Prize that it is presented to individuals or groups in appreciation not only of their outstanding achievements, but also of the excellence of the personal characteristics on which they have built their contributions to mankind. The laureates are selected through a strict and impartial process considering candidates recommended from around the world. As of January 2005 the Kyoto Prize has been awarded to 66 laureates from 12 nations -- ranging from scientists, engineers and researchers to philosophers, painters, architects, sculptors, musicians and film directors. The United States has produced the most recipients, with 29 laureates, followed by the United Kingdom (nine), Japan (eight) and France (seven). Download photos at: http://www.kyotoprize.org CONTACT: U.S.A.: Alarus Agency for the Kyoto Laureate Symposium Stephanie Kellems, (619) 235-4542 Cell: (619) 347-2715 E-mail: skellems@alarus.biz [ back to top ] [ back to press releases ] |
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