The Shaw Prize Foundation announced on Tuesday that four U.S. scientists are awarded The Shaw Prize of 2007.

The Shaw Prize consists of three annual prizes, Astronomy, Life Science and Medicine, and Mathematical Sciences, with each prize bearing a monetary award of 1 million U.S. dollars.

The Shaw Prize in Astronomy is awarded to Professor Peter Goldreich of the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, and Professor Lee A. DuBridge of astrophysics and planetary physics at the California Institute of Technology, of the United States, in recognition of his lifetime achievements in theoretical astrophysics and planetary sciences.

The Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine is awarded to Professor Robert Lefkowitz, an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Professor James B. Duke of medicine and biochemistry at the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, in North Carolina of the United States, for his relentless elucidation of the major receptor system that mediates the response of cells and organs to drugs and hormones.

The Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences is awarded in equal shares to Professor Robert Langlands of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and Professor Richard Taylor and Professor Herchel Smith of mathematics at Harvard University, the United States, for initiating and developing a grand unifying vision of mathematics that connects prime numbers with symmetry.

This is the fourth year that the Shaw Prize is awarded and the presentation ceremony is scheduled for Sept. 11, 2007.

Established under the auspices of Mr. Run Run Shaw, the Shaw Prize honors individuals, regardless of race, nationality and religious belief, who have achieved significant breakthrough in academic and scientific research or application and whose work has resulted in a positive and profound impact on mankind.

Source: Xinhua