RIYADH — Preparations have been finalized for the award ceremony for the 39th King Faisal International Prize to be held at the Al-Faisaliah Hotel here on Tuesday. The ceremony will be held in the presence and under the patronage of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman. The King Faisal International Prize honors exceptional achievements in five categories: Service to Islam, Islamic Studies, Arabic Language & Literature, Medicine, and Science. King Salman will receive the King Faisal International Prize 2017 for Service to Islam for his outstanding services to Islam and Muslims. The King will give away the Prize in the other categories to four researchers and an institute. The winners are: Professor Ridwan Al-Sayyid from Lebanon (Islamic Studies); the Arabic Language Academy of Jordan (Arabic Language and Literature); Professor Tadamitsu Kishimoto from Japan (Medicine); and Professor Daniel Loss from Switzerland and Professor Laurens Molenkamp from the Netherlands, who shared the Prize in the Science category for their contributions to physics. Following the meetings of the KFIP Selection Committees, Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Chairman of KFIP Board, and Dr. Abdulaziz Alsebail, KFIP Secretary-General, announced in January the winners of the 39th session of the prestigious award. The King Faisal International Prize is awarded by the King Faisal Foundation, founded by the sons and daughters of the late King Faisal. The prize was launched in 1977 with its first session held two years later. Scientists who were awarded the King Faisal International Prize have gone on to receive other prestigious awards in following years; for example 18 King Faisal Prize laureates went on to receive the Nobel Prize, while 13 won the Gairdner Foundation International Awards, 11 received the American National Medals of Science, and 9 were awarded the Lasker Medical Award; among many other distinguished prizes.
