Japan's Kyoto Prize Winners Share $1.8 Million
A U.S. computer scientist, a Japanese biologist and an Indian literary critic were Friday named winners of Japan's Kyoto Prize, sharing more than $1.8 million.
The prize has been annually awarded by the Inamori Foundation, established by Kyocera Corp. founder Kazuo Inamori, since 1985 in recognition of outstanding works in philosophy, arts, science and technology.
The 2012 winners will each be presented with a diploma, a 20-karat-gold medal and prize money of 50 million yen ($626,000) in a ceremony in Japan's ancient capital of Kyoto on November 10, the Inamori Foundation said.
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, 70, a professor at New York's Columbia University, was recognized by the foundation as a "critical theorist and educator speaking for the humanities against intellectual colonialism in relation to the globalized world."
Ivan Edward Sutherland, 74, a visiting scientist at Portland State University, in the U.S. state of Oregon, was cited for his "pioneering achievements in the development of computer graphics and interactive interfaces," the foundation said in a statement.
Yoshinori Osumi, 67, a professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, was honored for his "outstanding contribution" to work in the field of autophagy, the process by which a cell digests itself.
The Kyoto Prize has been awarded to 87 individuals and one organization since its inception, the foundation said.
Source: Agence France Presse
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