Grapevine: Dan David's best and brightest

The annual award ceremony for the Dan David Prize will be held at Tel Aviv University on Sunday, June 9, in the presence of President Shimon Peres.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
Shimon Peres 521 (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SALEM)
Shimon Peres 521
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SALEM)
■ The annual award ceremony for the Dan David Prize will be held at Tel Aviv University on Sunday, June 9, in the presence of President Shimon Peres; Prof. Ruth Arnon, the president of The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities; and the university’s Board of Governors. Three prizes of $1 million each will be awarded to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to humanity within the three time dimensions – past, present and future. The laureates are chosen based on proven excellence in the sciences, arts, humanities, public service and entrepreneurship.
The Dan David Prize laureates for 2013 are: Past –“Classics, the Modern Legacy of the Ancient World” Prof. Sir Geoffrey Lloyd of the Needham Research Institute and the University of Cambridge, for his work on the subject of Greek science as a major field in the history of classical philosophy, and for illuminating the roots of modern science.
Present – “Ideas, Public Intellectuals and Contemporary Philosophers,” to be shared by two individuals: Prof. Michel Serres of Stanford University and Université de Paris, one of the most important modern French philosophers, for his intimate knowledge of the Western tradition in philosophy and science, and for his discussion of a vast range of current issues.
Leon Wieseltier, a noted American intellectual, philosopher and literary editor of The New Republic, a foremost writer and thinker who confronts and engages with the central issues of our times, setting the standard for serious cultural discussion.
Future – “Preventive Medicine,” also to be shared by two individuals: Prof. Esther Duflo, noted economist of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for her work on social conditions and strategies on the alleviation of poverty that deal directly with prevention of disease. Most recently, she was appointed by US President Barack Obama as a member of the President’s Global Development Council.
Prof. Alfred Sommer of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, for his unexpected and striking discovery in demonstrating that vitamin A has the power to save children’s lives.
The Dan David Prize is unique in that its laureates donate 10 percent of their prize money toward 20 scholarships of $15,000 each for outstanding doctoral and postdoctoral researchers – 10 from universities worldwide and 10 from Tel Aviv University – thereby contributing to the community and fostering a new generation of scholars.
■ ONE OF the most controversial figures in Israel these days is modern Orthodox Zionist Rabbi David Stav, who is contesting the haredi hegemony for the position of chief rabbi.
This coming Sunday night, June 9, the Tel Aviv International Salon will present Stav speaking on the politics of religion at the Brodt Center, 22 Zeitlin Street, at 7:30 p.m.
■ SPEAKING THIS week at the 41st meeting of the Board of Governors of the University of Haifa, British Ambassador Matthew Gould said he had no doubt that Iran was doing all that it could to arrive at nuclear capability. If Iran succeeded in this ambition, he said, it would be catastrophic not only for Israel but for the whole world.
For this reason, Britain is no less committed than Israel to prevent Iran’s nuclear ambitions from becoming a reality. Gould said that Britain was well aware of Israel’s security concerns – many of which it shares. He cited terrorism as an example, referring to past challenges such as the IRA and the most recent outrageous atrocity, the killing of a soldier by Muslim extremists.
Gould also spoke of current regional developments, specifically in Syria, and with regard to the peace process reiterated Britain’s support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
■ IN THE game of fair play, you don’t hit a man when he’s down. This concept has been taken up by the Union of Local Authorities, which this week came out in support of beleaguered IDB Holding Corp. chairman Nochi Dankner. ULA chairman Shlomo Buhbut, the long-serving mayor of Ma’alot-Tarshiha in the North, and David Buskila, the mayor of Sderot in the South, emphasized the assistance their communities and other peripheral cities and towns had received from Dankner during times of trouble. They insisted that not all of the money came from IDB – i.e. from public funds – but around NIS 80 million came out of Dankner’s own pocket. Their interest in supporting Dankner, they said, was on a human decency level, and not an attempt to enable Dankner to retain the leadership of IDB. He responded to them in a time of need, they said, and the least they could do was to demonstrate their appreciation when he was at a crisis point in his life.a