Three scholars win 2012 Kyoto Prize

Three scholars were awarded Kyoto Prize at a ceremony in Kyoto International Conference Center Saturday in recognition of their great contribution in their respective field. The Kyoto Prize is an international award, presented annually since 1985, to encourage those who have contributed significantly to three categories, advanced technology, basic sciences, and arts and philosophy. The 2012 Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology is awarded to American computer scientist Dr. Ivan Edward Sutherland for his pioneering achievements in development of computer graphics and interactive interfaces. Indian literary critic and educator Chakravorty Spivak won the prize of arts and philosophy for her deep thinking on humanities against intellectual colonialism in relation to the globalization. The only local winner is Dr. Yoshinori Osumi from Tokyo Institute of Technology, who has made groundbreaking contributions to science in his cellular genetic study of autophagy. President of the United States and prime ministers of India and Japan sent their congratulatory messages to the winners. Each laureate is presented with a diploma, a 20K gold Kyoto Prize medal, and prize money of 50 million yen per category.