RIYADH, Saudia Arabia--(COLLEGIATE PRESSWIRE)--Nov 28, 2001--HRH Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Director General of King Faisal Foundation, tonight announced the winners of the 2002 King Faisal International Prize.
Professor Yuri I. Manin (Russian), Director of the Max-Planck Institute for Mathematics, Bonn, Germany, shares 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 US.
Professor Manin has been a towering figure in mathematics for the last four decades. His work extends from the most abstract field of number theory to the most practical, dealing with the establishment of secure mathematical foundations for present-day physical theories explaining the structure of matter and the universe.
Dr. Shor is an outstanding scientist in the field of computer science. Not only did he point out links between the theory of numbers and that of quantum computers, but he developed intellectual tools to show that quantum computing can tackle exceedingly difficult problems more quickly than contemporary computers. Among these problems is that of resolving a very great integral number into its primary factors, the so-called factoring problem.
The prize for Medicine (topic: Pathophysiology of Chronic Heart Failure) has been jointly awarded to Professor Finn Waagstein (Swedish), Professor of Cardiology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Sweden, and Professor Eugene Braunwald (American), Professor of Cardiology, Harvard Medical School, USA.
Professor Waagstein was the first researcher to discover the potential benefit of beta-adrenergic-blocking agents in congestive heart failure. His pursuit of his belief in the beta-blockers, despite skepticism from the medical community, lead to a landmark mortality trial. His contribution is the greatest recent breakthrough in heart failure therapeutics.
Professor Braunwald has been at the forefront of the research on congestive heart failure and acute coronary syndromes. Professor Braunwald and his colleagues developed an innovative model in animals for congestive heart failure that has been used by many laboratories to evaluate pathophysiologic studies and effects of therapy. Professor Braunwald was among the first to delineate the importance of idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis and the physiologic abnormalities of his myopathic process. He and Robert Kloner were the first to develop the concept of post-ischaemic left ventricular dysfunction after temporary reduction and coronary flow. This key concept relating to reversible left ventricular dysfunction, its causes, consequences, and opportunities for modulation remains an important issue.
In recognition for their outstanding contributions to the study of contemporary Palestinian literature, the Prize for Arabic Literature has been awarded to Professor Husam Al-Din Al-Khateeb (Syrian), Professor of Arabic Literature, Damascus University, Syria, and to Professor Husni Mahmoud Hussain (Jordanian), Professor of Arabic Literature, Al-Yarmouk University, Jordan.
Professor Al-Khateeb is a prominent Arab intellectual and a pioneering scholar of modern Palestinian literature. His book on Palestinian literary criticism is one of the most important studies in this field.
Professor Hussain is a prolific writer and historian of Palestinian literature and poetry and is best known for his famous four-volume book on Poetry of the Palestinian Resistance Movement as well as his critical studies and biographies of several modern Palestinian poets and novelists.
This year’s prize for Service to Islam has been awarded to HH Shaikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammad Al-Gasimi, Ruler of Sharja, United Arab Emirates. As a devoted Muslim leader and philanthropist, Shaikh Sultan has fostered numerous educational, social, health care, and housing projects that have benefited Muslim communities throughout the world. In his capacity as Ruler of Sharja and member of the United Arab Emirates Supreme Council, His Highness has relentlessly emphasized the values of Islam and spared no effort in implementing its teachings.
After careful review, the Selection Committee for Islamic Studies (topic: Objectives of Islamic Jurisprudence) has concluded that none of the nominated works has met the requirements of the Prize.
Notes to Editors:
* 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 31 May 2002.
* This is the 25th King Faisal International Prize announcement.
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