Six Laureates in Taiwan for the 5th Tang Prize Award Ceremony

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TAIPEI, Aug. 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 5^th Tang Prize Award Ceremony was held at 14:30 (GMT+8) on August 1 in the Howard Civil Service International House in Taipei. Prominent attendees included six 2022 Tang Prize laureates, who flew to Taiwan from different parts of the world for this memorable occasion. They were introduced and presented with the prize in sequence by incumbent chairs of three Tang Prize Selection Committees, Dr. Chao-Han Liu for Sustainable Development, Dr. Wen-Chang Chang for Biopharmaceutical Science and Dr. David Der-wei Wang for Sinology, and by former chair for Rule of Law Dr. Jiunn-Rong Yeh. Over six hundred distinguished guests and representatives across academic communities, government agencies and industrial sectors from Taiwan and abroad gathered to witness this historic moment. There were also special performances by the Jian-Shan Primary School Choir, featuring indigenous students singing folk songs from various tribal groups of Taiwan. In addition, the ceremony was livestreamed to allow global audiences to celebrate the laureates' significant contributions in real time.

The 2022 Tang Prize laureates are Professor Jeffrey Sachs for Sustainable Development, Drs. Katalin Kariko, Drew Weissman, and Pieter Cullis for Biopharmaceutical Science, Professor Jessica Rawson for Sinology, and Professor Cheryl Saunders for Rule of Law.

Delivering the welcome remarks on behalf of Dr. Yin, CEO of the Tang Prize Dr. Jenn-Chuan Chern emphasized that it was a real honor for the Foundation to stage such a magnificent ceremony on-site to show our sincere admiration for the laureates. He also thanked the past and current laureates for taking concrete actions to further the cause of sustainable development on a global scale. Mentioning that the Tang Prize reached its 10^th -anniversary milestone in 2022, Dr. Chern quoted a well-known Chinese saying, "It takes a decade to grow a tree but it takes a century to nurture a generation of young talent," to encourage people with dedication and determination to work with the Tang Prize to continue nurturing talent in the next one hundred years so as to create a brighter future for all.  

President of the Tang Prize Selection Committee Dr. Shu Chien spoke via video link and offered the six laureates his warmest congratulations. "Your outstanding accomplishments in science, society and humanity have greatly amplified the spirit of the Tang Prize to benefit humankind," he said, adding "your superb contributions are especially valuable today as we face severe challenges in the sustainability of our earth, and major issues in people's health, justice and peace."

All six laureates are renowned scholars who have made notable contributions to the world. Professor Sachs served as Special Advisor to three UN Secretaries-General and played a key role in setting the Sustainable Development Goals and in negotiating the Paris Agreement. Drs. Kariko, Weissman and Cullis successfully developed mRNA COVID-19 vaccines that have helped save millions of lives worldwide. Professor Rawson's career at the Department of Oriental Antiquities of the British Museum spanned nearly thirty years. With an intimate knowledge of Chinese artifacts, she gave voice to muted objects and provided evidence of the mutual influence between the material culture of the East and the West. A pioneer in comparative constitutional law, Professor Saunders has made a substantive contribution to constitution-building especially in the Asia-Pacific region.

About the Tang Prize

The advent of industrialization and globalization ushered in a new era of comfort and convenience through scientific and technological advancements. Yet, a multitude of crises have emerged along the way, such as climate change, wealth gap, and moral degradation. To tackle these problems, Dr. Samuel Yin founded the Tang Prize in December 2012. It consists of four award categories, namely Sustainable Development, Biopharmaceutical Science, Sinology, and Rule of Law. Every two years, four independent and professional selection committees made up of distinguished international experts and scholars, including several Nobel laureates, choose Tang Prize winners from a pool of nominees who have influenced and made substantive contributions to the world, regardless of their ethnicity, nationality or gender. A cash prize of NT$50 million (approx. US$1.75 million) is allocated to each category, with NT$10 million of it (approx. US$ 0.35 million) designated as a research grant to fund laureates' research and education projects. The hope is to encourage more people with professional knowledge and skills to address mankind's most urgent needs in this century, and to become leading forces behind the development of human society through their outstanding research and civic engagement.

SOURCE The Tang Prize Foundation