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The Alexander von Humboldt Prize
The
Alexander von Humboldt Prize is Germany’s highest research award for
senior U.S. scientists and scholars in all disciplines. The Humboldt
Prize was re-established by the Federal Republic of Germany in 1953 as
an expression of gratitude to the United States for its post-World War
II aid under the Marshall Plan. Now awarded globally, no more than 40
of the prizes are bestowed annually. The prize grants the recipient
twelve months of research support in a period of five years at any
German university or Max Planck Institute. Among past winners of this
prestigious prize are 40 Nobel Laureates (as of 2005).
Alexander
von Humboldt, 1779–1859, was one of Germany’s greatest scholars,
thinkers, intellectuals, world-travelers and adventurers. He was a
democrat before democracy, an anti-nationalist before Germany had
achieved national unity. Von Humboldt preempted achievements usually
attributed to mid 19th and 20th century modernity: the temporization of
explaining nature; the global application of instrumental reason in
science; and the cultural relativism in describing and explaining
societies.
The URL for the
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation is http://www.avh.de
(German language), and http://www.avh.de/en/index.htm
(English language).
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