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Musician Bono, Photo-Artist Edward Burtynsky, and Inventor Robert Fischell Selected as Winners of TED Prize 2004
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Medical technologies pioneer Robert Fischell, Canadian photo-artist Edward Burtynsky, and the acclaimed musician and global activist Bono are the remarkable winners of the inaugural TED Prize. Each recipient has been granted THREE WISHES to be revealed at the next TED conference, February 23-26, 2005 in Monterey, CA. Many members of the TED Community, and a group of world-class companies, have pledged support to help fulfill these wishes. Each winner will also receive $100,000 to be spent however they choose in support of their wishes.
"We are exhilarated to have such extraordinary individuals as our inaugural winners of the TED Prize," said Chris Anderson, TED Curator and founder of the Sapling Foundation. "We believe they will inspire the TED Community -- and perhaps many others -- to play a role in nudging our world toward a better future."
TED Prize Winners of 2004:
BONO
Musician whose activism has changed lives across the world
It is an extraordinary fact that the lead singer of the world's biggest rock band is also our generation's most persuasive champion of the downtrodden. Irreverent, funny, iconoclastic and relentless, Bono has become stunningly effective in bringing the world's most powerful leaders to take seriously the problems of AIDS and African poverty. In 2002, he co-founded DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa). Many credit him as the driving force behind the U.S. government's recent dramatic increase in AIDS funding. And no one who has heard him speak about "our generation's greatest challenge" can come away unmoved. After U2's historic Live Aid performance in 1985, Bono traveled to Ethiopia with his wife Ali. There they spent several weeks helping with a famine relief project. The experience shocked him and ignited a determination to work for change. In Bono's own words: "What are the blind spots of our age? It might be something as simple as our deep down refusal to believe that every human life has equal worth. Could that be it? Could that be it?"
EDWARD BURTYNSKY
Photo-Artist revealing humankind's impact on the environment
Over 30 years ago, Edward Burtynsky worked in mines and auto manufacturing plants, giving him direct exposure to industry and the world's growing demand for resources. During that time, Burtynsky began shooting large format color photographs; images that captured views of the earth altered by mankind; blasted quarries and mines, a landscape plundered and then abandoned.
Burtynsky has explored the impact of our expanding footprint and how it has begun reshaping the surface of the planet in very profound ways. Burtynsky's images are simultaneously beautiful, yet deeply shocking. Our judges believe the TED Prize will allow this Toronto-based artist/photographer to bring his work to a broader audience, and help change the way we think about the world and our place in it.
ROBERT FISCHELL
Inventor who has saved countless lives
Robert Fischell is, in the words of his nominator, "a great physicist, a great scientist, a great inventor, and, most important, a great human being." The holder of more than 200 U.S. and foreign patents, Fischell began his work in space development, including the creation of a 16-satellite system called Transit that was a key precursor to GPS. Fischell's true genius is his ability to see across technologies and sciences. His uncanny intuition allowed him to invent special features of the implantable cardiac defibrillator that has saved more than 60,000 lives -- followed by the implantable insulin pump, coronary stents used to open clogged arteries, and two extraordinary feedback systems that provide early warning of epileptic seizures and heart attacks. Fischell is now 75, yet still has a host of potent ideas capable of igniting the TED community to action. It is not just his inventive genius that makes Fischell such a worthy recipient, but his unwavering determination to make the world a better place.
TED Prize Background
TED -- an acronym for Technology, Entertainment, Design -- is an annual conference that has been described as the ultimate brain spa. Each year a unique audience of 1,000 leading opinion formers experiences the latest, greatest ideas, inventions and passions, delivered by more than 50 speakers and performers. TED was founded in 1984 and acquired by the Sapling Foundation three years ago.
In May 2003, a group selected from the TED Community set out to brainstorm an awards program unlike any other. The goal was to tap into the formidable talents and resources of the TED Community in the most creative way imaginable to leverage the work of remarkable people. This process, further aided by a creative team from world-renowned design and innovation firm IDEO, culminated in the Three Wishes format, to our knowledge, the first time this format has been used in an awards program.
In February of 2004, The Sapling Foundation began soliciting nominations for the inaugural TED Prize from the TED Community and members of the public. The Foundation also appointed a secret team of official Nominators covering areas as broad as Science, Technology, Business, Design, the Arts, Entertainment, and Social Entrepreneurship.
The Nominators were asked to find people whose work was capable of transcending boundaries and making a significant impact on our shared future.
Nominations for the TED Prize 2005 will open March 1, 2005.
TED Prize Supporters
The TED Prize Honorary Advisory Committee is made up of:
-- Jeff Bezos, head of Amazon.com
-- Eve Ensler, writer of "The Vagina Monologues'
-- Herbie Hancock, jazz legend
-- Goldie Hawn, Oscar-winning actor
-- Shashi Tharoor, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for
Communication
The Prize has generated offers of support from major companies including: GE; Hewlett Packard; IDEO; Kleiner Perkins; and Idealab, among others.
The original group of TEDsters who joined the Sapling Foundation in brainstorming the TED Prize program was:
-- Juan Enriquez, Author, Futurist
-- Tony Hoeber, Director, Dalai Lama Foundation
-- Roger Mandle, President, Rhode Island School of Design
-- Rachel Newton Bellow, Consultant on Philanthropic Strategy
-- Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO, Acumen Fund
-- Jay Walker, CEO, Walker Digital
The New York-based sculptor Tom Shannon has been commissioned to create the physical awards to be presented to the winners.
More details about TED, the TED Prize and the Sapling Foundation are at www.ted.com.
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Medical technologies pioneer Robert Fischell, Canadian photo-artist Edward Burtynsky, and the acclaimed musician and global activist Bono are the remarkable winners of the inaugural TED Prize. Each recipient has been granted THREE WISHES to be revealed at the next TED conference, February 23-26, 2005 in Monterey, CA. Many members of the TED Community, and a group of world-class companies, have pledged support to help fulfill these wishes. Each winner will also receive $100,000 to be spent however they choose in support of their wishes.
"We are exhilarated to have such extraordinary individuals as our inaugural winners of the TED Prize," said Chris Anderson, TED Curator and founder of the Sapling Foundation. "We believe they will inspire the TED Community -- and perhaps many others -- to play a role in nudging our world toward a better future."
TED Prize Winners of 2004:
BONO
Musician whose activism has changed lives across the world
It is an extraordinary fact that the lead singer of the world's biggest rock band is also our generation's most persuasive champion of the downtrodden. Irreverent, funny, iconoclastic and relentless, Bono has become stunningly effective in bringing the world's most powerful leaders to take seriously the problems of AIDS and African poverty. In 2002, he co-founded DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa). Many credit him as the driving force behind the U.S. government's recent dramatic increase in AIDS funding. And no one who has heard him speak about "our generation's greatest challenge" can come away unmoved. After U2's historic Live Aid performance in 1985, Bono traveled to Ethiopia with his wife Ali. There they spent several weeks helping with a famine relief project. The experience shocked him and ignited a determination to work for change. In Bono's own words: "What are the blind spots of our age? It might be something as simple as our deep down refusal to believe that every human life has equal worth. Could that be it? Could that be it?"
EDWARD BURTYNSKY
Photo-Artist revealing humankind's impact on the environment
Over 30 years ago, Edward Burtynsky worked in mines and auto manufacturing plants, giving him direct exposure to industry and the world's growing demand for resources. During that time, Burtynsky began shooting large format color photographs; images that captured views of the earth altered by mankind; blasted quarries and mines, a landscape plundered and then abandoned.
Burtynsky has explored the impact of our expanding footprint and how it has begun reshaping the surface of the planet in very profound ways. Burtynsky's images are simultaneously beautiful, yet deeply shocking. Our judges believe the TED Prize will allow this Toronto-based artist/photographer to bring his work to a broader audience, and help change the way we think about the world and our place in it.
ROBERT FISCHELL
Inventor who has saved countless lives
Robert Fischell is, in the words of his nominator, "a great physicist, a great scientist, a great inventor, and, most important, a great human being." The holder of more than 200 U.S. and foreign patents, Fischell began his work in space development, including the creation of a 16-satellite system called Transit that was a key precursor to GPS. Fischell's true genius is his ability to see across technologies and sciences. His uncanny intuition allowed him to invent special features of the implantable cardiac defibrillator that has saved more than 60,000 lives -- followed by the implantable insulin pump, coronary stents used to open clogged arteries, and two extraordinary feedback systems that provide early warning of epileptic seizures and heart attacks. Fischell is now 75, yet still has a host of potent ideas capable of igniting the TED community to action. It is not just his inventive genius that makes Fischell such a worthy recipient, but his unwavering determination to make the world a better place.
TED Prize Background
TED -- an acronym for Technology, Entertainment, Design -- is an annual conference that has been described as the ultimate brain spa. Each year a unique audience of 1,000 leading opinion formers experiences the latest, greatest ideas, inventions and passions, delivered by more than 50 speakers and performers. TED was founded in 1984 and acquired by the Sapling Foundation three years ago.
In May 2003, a group selected from the TED Community set out to brainstorm an awards program unlike any other. The goal was to tap into the formidable talents and resources of the TED Community in the most creative way imaginable to leverage the work of remarkable people. This process, further aided by a creative team from world-renowned design and innovation firm IDEO, culminated in the Three Wishes format, to our knowledge, the first time this format has been used in an awards program.
In February of 2004, The Sapling Foundation began soliciting nominations for the inaugural TED Prize from the TED Community and members of the public. The Foundation also appointed a secret team of official Nominators covering areas as broad as Science, Technology, Business, Design, the Arts, Entertainment, and Social Entrepreneurship.
The Nominators were asked to find people whose work was capable of transcending boundaries and making a significant impact on our shared future.
Nominations for the TED Prize 2005 will open March 1, 2005.
TED Prize Supporters
The TED Prize Honorary Advisory Committee is made up of:
-- Jeff Bezos, head of Amazon.com
-- Eve Ensler, writer of "The Vagina Monologues'
-- Herbie Hancock, jazz legend
-- Goldie Hawn, Oscar-winning actor
-- Shashi Tharoor, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for
Communication
The Prize has generated offers of support from major companies including: GE; Hewlett Packard; IDEO; Kleiner Perkins; and Idealab, among others.
The original group of TEDsters who joined the Sapling Foundation in brainstorming the TED Prize program was:
-- Juan Enriquez, Author, Futurist
-- Tony Hoeber, Director, Dalai Lama Foundation
-- Roger Mandle, President, Rhode Island School of Design
-- Rachel Newton Bellow, Consultant on Philanthropic Strategy
-- Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO, Acumen Fund
-- Jay Walker, CEO, Walker Digital
The New York-based sculptor Tom Shannon has been commissioned to create the physical awards to be presented to the winners.
More details about TED, the TED Prize and the Sapling Foundation are at www.ted.com.
