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John Maynard Smith wins Kyoto Prize

Professor John Maynard Smith

Professor John Maynard Smith, Emeritus Professor in BIOLS, is to receive Japan's equivalent of the Nobel Prize, the Inamori Foundation announced this week.

First awarded in 1985, the Kyoto Prize is Japan's highest private award for lifetime achievement. The prize is presented each year to individuals or groups "who have contributed greatly to mankind's scientific, cultural, and spiritual betterment".

John's honour recognises his contribution to evolutionary biology. Announcing the award winners, the Inamori Foundation said: "Professor Maynard Smith has made a groundbreaking contribution to the establishment of a unified understanding of fundamental issues in evolutionary biology, including social activities of organisms and the essence of the evolution of sexual reproduction, by proposing the idea of the evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS). In doing so, he has not only contributed to the development of biological sciences, but he has also had major impact on other disciplines, including economics and politics."

The citation continued: "As a lover of nature, Professor Maynard Smith has approached the essence of many biological problems with great curiosity, and has proposed unique viewpoints for resolving them. He is a keenly intelligent and curious biologist, yet he is capable of explaining complex theory in simple terms and with both wit and a sense of humour."

At the presentation ceremony in Kyoto on 10 November, John will receive a diploma, a gold medal and prize money of 50 million yen (about £290,000).

John was Professor of Biology at Sussex for 20 years from 1965 and for the first seven of those was also founding Dean of the School of Biological Sciences. He holds honorary doctorates from five universities, including one from Sussex in 1988, and received the prestigious Crafoord Prize (awarded to scientists working in fields not covered by the Nobel Foundation) in 1999.

This year's other winners are György Ligeti, an Austrian composer, and three physicists who have made pioneering contributions to the development of optoelectronics.

 

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Friday 22 June 2001

 

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