The award for Service to Islam was presented to Saudi philanthropist Sheikh Sulaiman Al-Rajhi in recognition of his outstanding contributions, including an endowment of more than half of his personal wealth for humanitarian purposes.
The Prize for Islamic Studies was won by Saudi professor Adnan Mohammed Al-Wazzan, a former president of Umm Al-Qura University, in recognition of his highly authoritative Arabic encyclopedia of human rights in Islam and its attributes in Saudi Arabia.
In the Arabic Language and Literature category (Computer Processing of the Arabic Language: Individual and Institutional Endeavors), the prize was shared jointly by professor Ali Hilmi Ahmed Mousa of Ain Shams University, Cairo, and Nabil Ali Mohamed, a corporate consultant at Advanced Arabic Systems, Cairo.
The Prize for Medicine (Minimal Invasive Fetal Management) was shared by US professors Richard L. Berkowitz and James Bruce Bussel, while in the Science category (Biology), the recipient was professor Alexander Varshavsky, also from the US.
Each of the five prizes consists of a certificate hand written in Diwani calligraphy summarizing the laureate's work; a commemorative 24 carat 200-gram gold medal uniquely cast for each prize; and a cash award of SR750,000 ($200,000). Co-winners in any category share the monetary grant.
Addressing the ceremony, Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, director general of King Faisal Foundation, said Saudi Arabia is going through a golden era under the wise leadership of King Abdullah.
“This is an era of wise leadership, good governance and loyal people. It’s also an era of reforms, development and achievements,” Prince Khaled said. He noted the peace and security prevailing in the Kingdom while many countries are hit by crises and disturbances.
Prince Khaled, who is the governor of Makkah, commended scholars and scientists for their great contributions for the progress and prosperity of humanity. He also thanked the audience for coming to encourage knowledge and salute the scholars.
Ever since it was instituted in 1979 in the name of the late King Faisal, the prize has been awarded to 223 winners from 40 countries. King Faisal Prize has won international reputation and has assumed a prominent place among major awards.
According to Abdullah Al-Othaimeen, secretary-general of the prize, Al-Rajhi was chosen for the Service to Islam award in recognition of his outstanding efforts in the service of Islam and Muslims, including the establishment of a major Islamic bank. He is the first Saudi businessman to win the award.
Al-Wazzan won the prize for his book on human rights, a scholarly and thoroughly researched eight-volume work based on extensive resources from Islamic jurisprudence and contemporary human rights studies.
Mousa was awarded the prize in recognition of his contributions to computer applications in Arabic language research, a field he has explored since the early stages of computerization and its applications in language studies.
Mousa’s co-winner, Ali Mohammed, was cited in recognition of his leadership in research and applications of computerized Arabic linguistic studies, coupled with his deep knowledge and remarkable ability to express and analyze his findings and present them as practical programs that benefit scholars of both linguistics and computing fields. His research on computer-based management of Arabic language provides an indispensable reference to many scholars and program designers.
Speaking about the winners of Medicine prize, Al-Othaimeen said Berkowitz and Bussel of the Columbia Medical Center in New York worked together for more than two decades to study the natural history, optimal diagnostic criteria and management of pregnant women having fetuses infected with alloimmune thrombocytopenia. This disease causes intracranial hemorrhage either in-utero or during neonatal period, causing death or substantial disability in 10 percent of untreated cases.
Bussel has provided expertise in the diagnosis and medical management of these patients through safe administration of intravenous gamma-globulins, while Berkowitz has provided expertise in obstetrical management of these patients. Both professors developed the study protocols, analyzed the data, interpreted the results and wrote the reports for publication.
Science prize winner Varshavsky has made ground-breaking discoveries into how the living cell works. He elucidated how cell functions are regulated by protein degradation. Proteins are essential parts of organisms and participate in virtually every process within the cell. Cells continuously produce and destroy proteins to ensure optimal function.
Varshavsky’s work led to the unraveling of the cellular mechanisms that determine how cellular proteins are being selected for destruction. He also discovered how proteins are marked for rapid degradation. These advances have created a new realm of biology and have been essential for progress in research on human cancer, neurodegeneration, immune responses and other fundamental biological processes.
