A Pioneer in “Islamic Architecture”, a Prominent Critic in “Classical Arabic Narrative and Modern Theories”, Covid-19 Vaccine Developers and Nanotechnology Scientists were honored today in The Prize’s 45th session
20 March 2023, Riyadh
Under the auspices of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Riyadh region, on his behalf King Faisal Prize honored today its laureates for this year 2023, in its five categories: Service to Islam, Islamic Studies, Arabic Language & Literature, Medicine, and Science.
This years’ Service to Islam Prize was received by Professor Choi Young Kil-Hamed, Professor of Islamic Studies (Former) at Myeongji University and Hancock University for Foreign Studies in Korea and the Chairman of the Korean Islamic Hiba Fund, making him the first Laureate from South Korea to receive this prize. He contributed to the dissemination of knowledge about the critical aspects of Islamic culture to Far Eastern societies, specifically among Korean-speaking people through translating many Islamic books into Korean, organizing courses to introduce Islam, and teaching Arabic language and Islamic sciences at the Universities of Myeongji and Hankook for Foreign Studies. He chaired several institutions, organizations, and federations, concerned with Muslim affairs. In his acceptance speech, he expressed the sense of greater responsibility to introduce Islamic and Arabic culture to the Korean society.
The Service to Islam Prize was also granted to His Excellency Shaikh Nasser bin Abdullah Al Zaabi, Chairman of the Permanent Council of the Islamic Solidarity Fund (ISF). His efforts in philanthropic and relief work culminated in the creation of several Islamic centers, schools, training centers, hospitals, and dispensaries, in addition to providing care to thousands of orphans, digging hundreds of artesian wells, building several dams, launching agricultural projects, and supporting many vulnerable communities in Africa. He said in his acceptance speech, “The starting point to serve Islam is present in every age and place. Serving Islam starts in yourself, in your family, in your country and society, and in your vast human surroundings, education, advocacy, relief and diverse and complex charitable work, in writing, providing guidance and assistance to those who need help, especially in our days when poverty has grown exponentially, when ignorance and wars abound, and when high prices and diseases spread.”
Professor Robert Hillenbrand, Honorary Professorial Fellow in the department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies (IMES) at the University of Edinburgh, was awarded the “Islamic Studies” prize in “Islamic Architecture”. His work was distinguished by its geographic and temporal expansiveness, which covered North Africa, Egypt, Palestine, and Central Asia, and spanned from the early Islamic period till the 19th Century. Professor Hillenbrand has written eleven books, notably “Imperial Images in Persian Painting”; “Islamic Art and Architecture”; “The Architecture of Ottoman Jerusalem”; “Studies in Medieval Islamic Architecture”; “Islamic Architecture: Form, Function and Meaning”; “Studies in the Islamic Decorative Arts”; and “An unknown Masterpiece from Mongol Iran”. During the ceremony, he referred to the huge impact of the glories of Islamic architecture and art on his students in the West, describing it as: “As a way into a previously unknown, even unsuspected, world it cannot be surpassed. The effect can be electric – it is as instantaneous and unprocessed as the response to music; its appeal is beyond words. That experience often has lifelong repercussions for such students.”
Professor Abdelfattah Kilito, Professor at Mohammed V University in Morocco, received the “Arabic Language and Literature” prize which focused on “Classical Arabic Narrative and Modern Theories”. He is considered one of the most prominent Arab critics in the modern era. He creatively and extensively elucidated different genres in Classical Arabic Narrative. He also embodied modern critical approaches within his vision, in a novel and creative method, exploring areas in the Classical Arab Narrative that evaded many before. Among his complete works, which came in five parts: “The Controversy of Languages, The Past and the Present, The Roots of Narration, The Carriers of the Story, and Mirrors.” He also wrote several books, including: “Literature and Strangeness” and “The Eye and the Needle”. During the ceremony, he praised the Prize’s officials for choosing the field of narration and literary criticism as a prize topic this year, underlining the international impact of the Prize stating, “the international dimension of this Prize gives it an added value and raises the benchmark by which scholarly productions and their scholarly value have been assessed in various fields”.
On the topic of “Pandemics and Vaccine Development,” the Medicine Prize was awarded to professors Dan Barouch of Harvard University and Sarah Gilbert of Oxford University. who employed a novel technology in developing Covid-19 viral vectors vaccines: the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine, respectively. Instead of the traditional vaccines’ method which uses a weakened or killed form of the original infection and requires a long time to develop in the human body, they genetically modified a harmless version of a different virus to carry genetic material to body cells and deliver protection.
In his acceptance speech during the ceremony, Professor Barouch said, “The Ad26 vaccine for COVID-19 demonstrated robust efficacy in humans, even after a single shot, and showed continued protection against virus variants that emerged. This vaccine has been rolled out across the world by the pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, and over 200 million people have received this vaccine, particularly in the developing world”. As for Professor Gilbert, she said that she is “humbled to join the other 2023 laureates today, and to follow-in the footsteps of the men and women whose work has been recognized by the Foundation over more than four decades. This award is in recognition of my work to co-create a vaccine for COVID-19. A low-cost, accessible, efficacious vaccine that has now been used in more than 180 countries and is estimated to have saved more than six million lives by the start of 2022.”
Northwestern University Professor, Chad Mirkin, and the A*STAR Senior Fellow and Director at NanoBio Lab, Professor Jackie Yi-Ru Ying, were awarded the King Faisal Prize for Science in “Chemistry”, for helping define the modern age of nanotechnology and for their various advancements and applications of nanomaterials.
Professor Chad Mirkin is widely recognized for his invention of spherical nucleic acids (SNAs), which are nanostructures composed of nucleic acids in a spherical configuration which enter human cells and tissues and overcome biological barriers, making it possible to detect or treat a disease on the genetic level. More than 1,800 products for medical diagnostics, therapeutics, and life science research were based on this technology. “One vital component of our work aims to use nanotechnology to restructure DNA and RNA into forms that make them more potent medicines for treating debilitating types of cancer and neurological disease. Through this work, we hope to usher in a new era of powerful and precision genetic medicines where we can attack and treat disease at its genetic routes”, said Mirkin in his acceptance speech. He also pioneered artificial intelligence-based materials discovery and invented a method to create patterns directly on different substances with a variety of inks called “dip-pen nanolithography”, which was described by National Geographic as one of the “top 100 scientific discoveries that changed the world”.
As for Professor Jackie Yi-Ru Ying, her research focused on synthesis of advanced nanomaterials and systems, and their application in biomedicine, energy conversion, and catalysis. Her inventions have been used to solve challenges in different fields of medicine, chemistry, and energy. Her development of stimuli-responsive polymeric nanoparticles led to a technology which can autoregulate the release of insulin, depending on the blood glucose levels in diabetic patients without the need for external blood glucose monitoring. “I am deeply honored to be receiving the King Faisal Prize in Science, especially as the first female recipient of this award,” she said in her acceptance speech.
Since 1979, King Faisal Prize in its 5 different categories has awarded 290 laureates who have made distinguished contributions to different sciences and causes. Each prize laureate is endowed with USD 200 thousand (SAR 750,000); a 24-carat gold medal weighing 200 grams, and a Certificate inscribed with the Laureate’s name and a summary of their work which qualified them for the prize.