Members of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China recommended to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee that the prize for 2019 be awarded to Ilham Tohti, a jailed Uyghur academic for his commitment to peaceful dialogue between members of the Uyghur and Hans Chinese communities. Tohti was sentenced in 2014 to life in prison for “promoting separatism.” The lawmakers stated that Tohti knew the risks when he spoke out about the state of the Uyghur community but chose to proceed. Since his imprisonment the situation for the Uyghur community in XUAR has escalated to the point that reportedly millions of Uyghur citizens have been placed under surveillance in their own homes, have been taken to re-education camps and their children have been confined to reprogramming schools. Thirteen U.S. Congressmen were participants in this nomination.
Who We Are
Co-chairs
Joel L. Lebowitz, Rutgers University
Paul H. Plotz, M.D., Washington, DC
Walter Reich, George Washington University
Eugene Chudnovsky, Lehman College
Alexander Greer, Brooklyn College
Vice-chairs
Astronomy – Arno Penzias, New Enterprises Associates*
Biology – Max E. Gottesman, Columbia University
Chemistry – Zafra Lerman, MIMSAD Inc.
Computer Science – Rachelle Heller, The George Washington University
Computer Science – Jack Minker, University of Maryland, College Park
Engineering – Philip Sarachik, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering
Mathematics – Simon Levin, Princeton University
Medical Sciences – J. Joseph Blum, Duke University
Honorary Board Members
Nancy Andrews, Duke University
David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology*
Alan J. Bard, University of Texas
Jacob Bigeleisen (deceased), SUNY, Stony Brook
Raoul Bott (deceased), Harvard University
Owen Chamberlain (deceased), University of California, Berkeley
Stanley Deser, Brandeis University
Edward Gerjuoy, University of Pittsburg
David Gross, (2004 Nobel Prize in Physics), Kavil Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara*
Pierre Hohenberg (deceased), New York University
Walter Kohn (deceased), University of California, Santa Barbara*
James Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara
Peter Lax, New York University
Louis Nirenberg, New York University
Marshall Nirenberg (deceased), National Institutes of Health*
Honorary Board Members
John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto*
Stuart Rice, University of Chicago
Sir Richard J. Roberts, (1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology & Medicine), New England Biolabs*
Myriam Sarachick, City College of New York
Harold Scheraga, Cornell University
Sylvan Schweber (deceased), Brandeis University
Maxine Singer, Carnegie Institution of Washington
Alfred I. Tauber, Boston University
Steven Weinberg, University of Texas, Austin*
Myrna Weissman, Columbia University
Rosalyn S. Yalow (deceased), Mount Sinai School of Medicine*
* Nobel laureate