Brad
Norman
.jpg "Chanda Schroff")
Chanda
Schroff
.jpg "Alexandra Lavrillier")
Alexandra
Lavrillier
.jpg "Rory Wilson")
Rory
Wilson
.jpg "Pilai Poonswad")
Pilai
Poonswad
|
|
For the first time since
their inception in 1976, the Rolex Spirit of Enterprise awards
this year feature more female prize winners than
male.
Marking three decades since the inception of its
international awards programme, Rolex named the winners of the
12th Rolex Awards for Enterprise. The Laureates - three women
and two men - hail from Australia, France, India, Thailand and
the United Kingdom. They join the 55 Laureates who, since
1976, have been singled out by the watchmaker for their
innovative projects to change the world and make it a better
place to live.
On October 25, each Laureate has
received US$100,000 and a personally inscribed gold Rolex
chronometer at a ceremony at the Esplanade Performing Arts
Centre in Singapore. The five winners – selected by an
independent panel of experts from nearly 1,700 applicants from
117 countries – have been recognized for their contributions
to science, technology, the environment, exploration and
cultural heritage.
The new Laureates are: Alexandra
Lavrillier, a French ethnologist establishing a mobile school
to preserve Siberian nomads’ cultural heritage; Brad Norman,
an Australian environmentalist implementing a global
photo-identification database for whale shark conservation;
Pilai Poonswad, a Thai microbiology professor saving hornbills
threatened by poaching and deforestation in southern Thailand;
Chanda Shroff, an Indian woman setting up a mobile resource
centre to showcase Kutchi embroidery and teach a new
generation of artisans about this tradition; and Rory Wilson,
a British zoologist testing a revolutionary energy-expenditure
measuring device to help conserve wildlife.
"The
Laureates demonstrate the unwavering spirit of enterprise that
has underpinned the Rolex Awards since their beginning 30
years ago" said Patrick Heiniger, Chief Executive Officer of
Rolex and Chairman of the Awards Selection Committee. "We at
Rolex are gratified that we have been able to support these
brave individuals who dare to do things differently to improve
the human condition."
In addition to the prizes awarded
to the 2006 Laureates, five Associate Laureates will each
receive $50,000 and a steel-and-gold Rolex chronometer. These
runners-up will be honoured at ceremonies in their own
countries or regions in the months ahead. The 2006 Associate
Laureates are Cristian Donoso (Chile), Zenón Gomel Apaza
(Peru), Shafqat Hussain (Pakistan), Runa Khan Marre
(Bangladesh) and Julien Meyer (France). Their projects range
from revitalising and preserving whistled and drummed
languages via the internet, to implementing an original
insurance scheme to save the snow leopard in Pakistan and
exploring western Patagonia by kayak as indigenous people did
centuries ago.
This year’s Selection Committee, a
voluntary panel of nine world-renowned scientists, educators,
entrepreneurs, conservationists and explorers were eminently
qualified to apply their own spirit of enterprise in judging
the diverse projects presented to them. "The committee members
and I were struck by the originality of thought put forth by
the winners, by how these pioneers have broken new ground in
an innovative, yet constructive way," commented Patrick
Heiniger.
Joining Patrick Heiniger on the 2006
Selection Committee were: Dr Laretna T. Adishakti, Indonesian
architect and founder of the Center for Heritage Conservation;
Professor Denise Bradley, vice chancellor and president of the
University of South Australia; Motoko Ishii, Japanese lighting
designer; Erling Kagge, Norwegian polar explorer and
mountaineer; Professor Tommy Koh, diplomat and patron of the
arts from Singapore; William K. Reilly, American
conservationist; Dr Luis Rojas Marcos, American professor of
psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine; Mark
Shuttleworth, South African technology entrepreneur and
philanthropist; and Sir Magdi Habib Yacoub, British surgeon
and founder of the Magdi Yacoub Institute.
On a final
note, the Rolex Prize secretariat has already launched an
appeal for nominations, inviting men and women imbued with a
spirit of enterprise to enter the 13th edition of its biennial
programme. Regional application deadlines are as follows: 31
May 2007 for Asia, the Pacific and the Americas; 30 September
2007 for Europe, the Near East and
Africa. |
Tel. +41 (0)32 328 08 28, Fax +41 (0)32 328 08
80
