2008 BALZAN PRIZES AWARDED BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC

Rome, 21 November 2008 - The Balzan Prizes for 2008 are presented today by the President of the Italian Republic. During the ceremony, which takes place at the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, the prizes are presented to: Maurizio Calvesi (Italy, Università di Roma "La Sapienza", fellow of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei) for the Visual Arts since 1700; Thomas Nagel (USA, New York University) for Moral Philosophy; Ian H. Frazer (Australia, Diamantina Institute for Cancer, Immunology and Metabolic Medicine, University of Queensland, Brisbane) for Preventive Medicine, including Vaccination; Wallace S. Broecker (USA, Columbia University, New York) for Science of Climate Change.

The International Balzan Foundation awards one million Swiss Francs (approx. 670,000 Euros, 840,000 USD) for each prize, a figure which places the Balzan Prize amongst the biggest prize funds in the world of Science and Culture. The winners are each required to allocate half of their prize money to funding research projects carried out preferably by young scholars or scientists in their respective fields. The subject fields (which change every year and which are chosen from arts, letters, moral and physical sciences, mathematics and medicine) and the winners are chosen by the General Prize Committee, an independent body belonging to the International Balzan Foundation "Prize" which is presided over by Sergio Romano and is composed of twenty leading academics from eleven European countries.

The Balzan Prize 2008 for Visual Arts since 1700 has been awarded to MAURIZIO CALVESI "for his outstanding work on the modern and contemporary visual art which has contributed to a better understanding of the nature and development of modernism as well as to the study of the origin of new trends in contemporary art".

THOMAS NAGEL has received the 2008 Balzan Prize for Moral Philosophy "for his fundamental and innovative contributions to contemporary ethical theory, relating to both individual, personal choices and collective, social decisions. For the depth and coherence of his original philosophical perspective, which is centered on the essential tension between objective and subjective points of view. For the originality and fecundity of his philosophical approach to some of the most important questions in contemporary life".

In the field of Preventive Medicine, including vaccination, IAN H. FRAZER was recognized "for his outstanding scientific achievement and lasting contribution to preventive medicine in developing a vaccine that promises to prevent virus-induced carcinoma of the cervix, which claims 1/4 million lives every year".

The Prize for Science of Climate Change went to WALLACE S. BROECKER "for his extraordinary contributions to the understanding of climate change through his discoveries concerning the role of the oceans and their interactions with the atmosphere, as well as the role of glacial changes and the records contained in ice cores and ocean sediments. His contributions have been significant in understanding both gradual and abrupt climate change".

The Ceremony is preceded by the Balzan Prizewinners Interdisciplinary Forum 2008, which takes place in Palazzo Corsini, headquarter of the Lincei. The Forum is a public event dedicated to the Balzan Prize subject areas for 2008 with Maurizio Calvesi, Thomas Nagel, Ian H. Frazer and Wallace S. Broecker, all playing a prominent role. The prizewinners are introduced by the members of the Balzan's General Prize Committee Dmitry O. Shvidkovsky, Salvatore Veca, Werner Stauffacher and Enric Banda.

The Balzan Prize award ceremony takes place in alternate years in Rome with the President of the Republic in attendance, and in Berne at the Federal Palace.


Detailled information regarding the Balzan Prize Winners 2008 and the International Balzan Foundation available on request.


http://www.balzan.org

The International Balzan Prize Foundation’s aim is to promote culture, the sciences and the most meritorious initiatives in the cause of humanity, peace and brotherhood among peoples throughout the world.

Currently, four annual awards are made: two in literature, moral sciences and the arts; and two in the physical, mathematical and natural sciences and medicine. In 2001, regulations concerning the prizes were changed, and prize winners must now destine half of their awards for research projects carried out preferably by young humanists and scientists.

At intervals of not less than three years, the Balzan Foundation also awards a prize for Humanity, Peace and Brotherhood among Peoples.

The Balzan Foundation acts jointly through two Foundations: one with headquarters in Milan and the other with headquarters in Zurich. At the “Prize” Foundation in Milan, the General Prize Committee, which is composed of eminent European scholars and scientists, chooses the subject areas of the awards and makes the nominations. The “Fund” Foundation in Zurich administers Eugenio Balzan’s estate.

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This release was published on openPR.