RIYADH, 28 November — Two professors from Syria and Jordan were declared co-winners of the King Faisal International Prize for Arabic Literature for the year 2002, while a Swedish and an American professor picked up the prize for medicine.
A Russian professor and an American scientist were the joint winners of the prize for science (mathematics). The selection committee for Islamic Studies withheld the award, since none of the nominated works had met the criteria for selection.
On Sunday, Sheikh Sultan ibn Muhammad Al-Qasimi, the ruler of Sharjah (UAE), was declared the winner of the King Faisal International Prize for Service to Islam for his support to numerous educational, social, healthcare and housing projects that have benefited Muslim communities throughout the world.
The prize winners were announced by Dr. Abdullah Al-Othaimeen, secretary-general of the King Faisal International Prize, in the presence of Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, governor of Asir and director-general of the King Faisal Foundation. Members of the royal family, diplomats and a distinguished gathering of invitees were also present.
King Faisal International Prize is credited with the distinction of producing quite a few Nobel Prize winners, the most notable of whom were Professor Ahmed Zewail (KFIP Science 1989) and Gunter Blobel (KFIP Medicine 1996).
Each prize consists of a certificate, hand-written in Diwani calligraphy, summarizing the laureate’s work; a commemorative 24-carat, 200-gram gold medal and a cash endowment of SR750,000 ($200,000). Co-winners share the monetary grant.
Prince Khaled Al-Faisal underscored the significance of this year’s (25th) King Faisal International Prize, which, he said, coincides with the 20th anniversary of the reign of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd. He said these were the decades of growth and development during which the Kingdom scaled new heights of prosperity under the leadership of King Fahd.
Prince Khaled also announced that the King Faisal Foundation had decided to set up a university under its umbrella. Royal approval had been accorded to the university, which will be located in King Faisal Palace in Riyadh.
A university in the private sector, it will have the faculties of engineering, medicine and science and will be designed to serve as a model institution of its kind. The other colleges under KFF’s umbrella include the Prince Sultan College of Tourism in Abha and the Princess Effat College for Women, Jeddah.
Referring to the nomination of Sheikh Sultan Al-Qasimi as the winner of this year’s prize for Service to Islam, Dr. Al-Othaimeen said Sheikh Sultan, a Muslim leader and philanthropist, had relentlessly emphasized the values of Islam and spared no effort in implementing its teachings.
The citation for the winners of the King Faisal International Prize for Arabic Literature named Professor Husam Al-Din Al-Khateeb (Syrian), professor of Arabic Literature, Damascus University, Syria, and Professor Husni Mahmoud Hussain (Jordanian), professor of Arabic Literature at Al-Yarmouk University, Jordan.
It said the awards were in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the study of contemporary Palestinian literature, including critical studies and biographies of several modern Palestinian poets and novelists.
Professor Yuri I. Manin (Russian), director of the Max-Planck Institute for Mathematics, Bonn (Germany), shared the prize for Science (Mathematics) with Dr. Peter Williston Shor (American), a member of the research staff at the AT&T Shannon Research Laboratory in the United States.
Manin, described as a towering figure in mathematics during the last four decades, is credited with doing research that has helped in laying mathematical foundations for present-day physical theories explaining the structure of matter and universe.
Shor was honored for his works in computer science. Not only did he establish links between the theory of numbers and that of quantum computers, but he also conclusively proved that quantum computing could tackle highly intricate problems faster than contemporary computers.
The co-winners of the Prize for Medicine (topic: Pathophysiology of chronic heart failure) were Professor Finn Waagstein (Swedish), professor of cardiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Sweden, and Professor Eugene Braunwald (American), professor of cardiology, Harvard Medical School, USA.
Waagstein was the first to discover the potential benefit of beta-adrenergic-blocking agents in congestive heart failure. His contribution was cited as the greatest recent breakthrough in heart failure therapeutics.
Braunwald was cited for developing a novel model in animals for congestive heart failure that has been used by many laboratories to evaluate pathophysiologic studies.
The King Faisal Foundation has announced that the topics for the 2003 King Faisal International Prize are: Medicine (Breast cancer); Science (Chemistry); Arabic Literature (Definitions of Literary and Critical Terms of Arabic Literature); Islamic Studies (History of Islamic Economics). The deadline for all nominations is May 31, 2002.
