Nobel and Kyoto

[Frederick J Newmeyer]

In addition to the Nobel Prize, there is the Kyoto Prize. Here is the blurb:

"The Kyoto Prize has been awarded annually since 1985 by the Inamori Foundation, founded by Kazuo Inamori. The prize is a Japanese award similar in intent to the Nobel Prize, as it recognizes outstanding works in the fields of philosophy, arts, science and technology. The awards are given not only to those that are top representatives of their own respective field, but also to those that have contributed to humanity with their work.

Prizes are given in the fields of Advanced Technology, Basic Sciences and Arts and Philosophy. Within each broad category, the prize rotates among subfields, e.g. the technology prize rotates across electronics, biotechnology, materials science and engineering, and information science. The prize was endowed with 50 million yen and Kyocera stock. The prize is rising in prestige as it covers fields not often awarded by the Nobel Prizes."

The only linguist to win the Kyoto Prize has been Noam Chomsky, in 1988, in the 'cognitive science' subdivision of 'basic sciences' -- the only award so far in that subdivision.

The Kyoto Prize is more like a 'lifetime achievement award' than the Nobel, which is generally awarded for a specific achievement.

--fritz