Winners of this year’s Tang Prize are set to begin arriving in Taiwan on Wednesday next week. They will take part in a series of events before the awards ceremony on September 25.
The biennial Tang Prize was founded by Taiwanese business tycoon Samuel Yin in 2012. It seeks to honor those who have made an impact in the fields of sustainable development, biopharmaceutical science, sinology, and rule of law.
The winner in sustainable development this year is American Arthur Rosenfeld, dubbed the “godfather of energy efficiency.” The award for biopharmaceutical science goes to Emmanuelle Charpentier of France, Jennifer A. Doudna of the US, and Feng Zhang of China. The three are recognized for their contributions to the genome editing platform CRISP/Cas9.
William Theodore de Bary, a heavyweight in the field of Confucian studies, has been awarded this year’s prize for sinology. And Canadian jurist Louise Arbour has won the prize for rule of law for her contributions to international criminal justice and the protection of human rights. Representatives have been chosen to receive the awards on behalf of two of this year’s winners, who are unable to travel because of their age.