2 Scientists Are Among Winners of $621,000 Kyoto Prizes

A materials scientist at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology and a researcher at Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics are among the three recipients of the 2011 Kyoto Prizes, worth about $621,000 each this year, the Inamori Foundation announced today. The awards, in three categories, recognize “people who have contributed significantly to the progress of science, the advancement of civilization, and the enrichment and elevation of the human spirit,” the foundation said. The winners are: in the advanced-technology category, NIST’s John Werner Cahn, who is also affiliated with the University of Washington; in the basic-sciences category, Rashid Alievich Sunyaev, of the Max Planck Institute and the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Space Research Institute; and in the arts-and-philosophy category, Tamasaburo Bando V, a Kabuki actor in Japan. The winners will receive their prizes in Kyoto in November.