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San Diego will host the annual Kyoto Prize Symposium this week at UC San Diego, which includes a celebration for recipients of the Kyoto Prize and honors those who have made significant advances in science and culture.
Recipients of the Kyoto Prize, Japan’s highest private award for global achievement, are chosen in three categories: advanced technology, basic sciences, and arts and philosophy.
The March 12-13 event, co-hosted by the Kyoto Symposium Organization and San Diego universities, will feature laureates’ public lectures and scholarships for high school seniors in the greater San Diego-Tijuana area.
Six winners, three from San Diego and three from Tijuana, will each be awarded a college scholarship valued at $10,000 or 100,000 pesos for the next academic year.
Scholarships are awarded in the same three categories as the Kyoto Prize, but they focus on the holistic picture of the students’ contributions to society when choosing the recipients, according to Marisa Lin, executive director of KSO.
“For example, if we have a biotech student, we also need to see that there’s a balance there with the arts or the other side of the student holistically,” Lin said. “It’s not just academics; it’s community service; it’s how they are helping society or bettering their peers.”
The three San Diego seniors awarded this year are Adam Ramadan from Rancho Bernardo High School, Kate Xu from Del Norte High School and Sarah Gao from Canyon Crest Academy.
Xu is actively involved with the Kawaskai Disease Foundation, as she was diagnosed with the disease at a young age. Through her research on the disease and her nonprofit, Cookies for Kawasaki — Cookies4Cures, she works to give back to the foundation, the community and the children affected by it in addition to working toward solutions for climate change.
“Her research on climate change she has also been doing in her high school career, you wonder how they have time to do all of this,” Lim said. “But they are quite remarkable students.”
In addition to her passion for the sciences, Xu is an accomplished pianist who has performed twice at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Gao will be recognized for her leadership in raising awareness of environmental action through her two nonprofits, “Let’s Gogh Code” and “Coast2Canyon.” Through her passion for sustainability and science, Gao identified radish seeds’ ability to purify water cost-effectively and sustainably.
In addition to her work in the environmental sciences, Gao is an accomplished writer and the editor-in-chief of Catalyst Magazine, an award-winning print publication at her school.
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Ramadan led an independent study through a grant he was awarded to study the nutrient content of Lake Hodges. He has engaged in advanced mathematics and biology research, applying statistical methods to real-world biomedical data, through his training in biostatistics at UCSD’s Moores Cancer Center. Rounding it out, Ramadan is an avid filmmaker, making and directing short films in his free time.
“That’s usually the highlight of our night, to be honest,” Lim said. “We’re here honoring the laureates, but what really blows everyone away is when we feature the kids on stage.”
The gala, set to take place March 12 at the Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, will introduce the scholarship recipients as well as honor this year’s laureates of the Kyoto Prize.
In advanced technology, the 2024 Kyoto Prize laureate is John Pendry, professor of Theoretical Solid State Physics at Imperial College London and the UK’s leading theoretical physicist. His background in low energy electron diffraction theory helped create innovative materials such as “superlenses” with subwavelength resolution and “invisibility cloaks,” bringing the seemingly science fiction to life.
The laureate for basic sciences is Paul F. Hoffman, an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria. He conducted groundbreaking research on the “Snowball Earth” hypothesis and was able to geologically demonstrate the existence of a global freeze during the Earth’s first half of existence.
William Forsythe is the 2024 Laureate in arts and philosophy, for his ability as a choreographer to reimagine ballet to a dynamic contemporary art form. A former student of the Joffery Ballet, Forsythe integrates various styles of dance into the tradition of ballet, innovating the longstanding art form.
For more information on the gala and additional presentations from the laureates, which are free for the public, go to kyoto-prize-us.org.
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