TANG PRIZE

TAIWAN

WHO: Samuel Yin, entrepreneur and chairman of the Ruentex Financial Group

WHAT: One of Taiwan’s wealthiest men, Samuel Yin launched the Tang Prize in 2012, although it was first conferred two years later. Conceived as an international award and modelled on the Nobels, it rewards outstanding contributions in sustainable development, biopharmaceutical science, sinology, and rule of law. It takes its name from China’s Tang Dynasty (618-907), the Renaissance of Chinese civilisation.

Presented every two years, the award comprises a cash prize of NT$40 million (HK$10.13 million), and a research grant of NT$10 million. This year’s winners, announced in June with a ceremony in September, featured eight laureates— the most ever awarded—including James Hansen, former director of Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and Veerabhadran Ramanathan, director of the Center for Atmospheric Sciences at the University of California, San Diego, who jointly received the Tang Prize in Sustainable Development for their pioneering work on climate change and its impact on the sustainability of the earth; and legal philosopher Joseph Raz, who was awarded the Tang Prize in Rule of Law.