Political, Scientific and Artistic Luminaries Awarded Dan David Prizes
Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Three $1 million awards presented at gala ceremony

An audience of prominent political, academic and business figures from around the world graced the Tel Aviv University campus on May 9, for this year's prestigious Dan David Prize award ceremony. Among them were Isaac Herzog, Israel's Minister of Welfare and Social Services; Prof. Joseph Klafter, President of Tel Aviv University and Chairman of the Board of the Dan David Prize; and Dan David, international businessman and founder of the Dan David Prize.

The 2010 awards were presented to:

• Mr. Giorgio Napolitano, President of the Republic of Italy, for his dedication to the cause of parliamentary democracy;
• Ms. Margaret Atwood (Canada) and Mr. Amitav Ghosh (India), for their compelling literary works exploring the history and social issues of twentieth-century society; and
• Prof. Leonard Kleinrock (University of California at Los Angeles, USA), Dr. Gordon E. Moore (Chairman Emeritus of the board, Intel) and Prof. Michael O. Rabin (Harvard University, USA) for their seminal research and groundbreaking innovations in computer technology.

The sparkling program included performances by the Vertigo Dance Association, which interpreted the concept of time into motion and depicted advanced computer technology through its original choreography; the Ruth Kanner Theater Group, which staged excerpts from laureate Amitav Ghosh's Sea of Poppies; and the Raanana Symphonette Orchestra, which performed the overture of the opera Forza del Destino by Verdi and the "Coronation March" from Giacomo Meyerbeer's opera The Prophet.

The Dan David Prize has been awarded since the year 2002 to individuals or institutions with proven, exceptional and distinct excellence in the sciences, arts, and humanities who have made an outstanding contribution to humanity, in each of the three time dimensions of past, present, and future. One million dollars is awarded to the laureates in each of the three dimensions.

The Dan David Prize is a joint international enterprise endowed by the Dan David Foundation and headquartered at Tel Aviv University. Each year the International Board for the prize chooses one field within each time dimension. Following a review process by independent Review Committees comprised of renowned scholars and professionals, the International Board then chooses the laureates for each field.

As in past years, the laureates generously donate 10% of their prize money towards 20 TAU scholarships for outstanding doctoral and post-doctoral students from all over the world.

A video of the ceremony can be found at http://video.tau.ac.il/General/Dan_David/2010.