On October 24, 2019 the European Union awarded its highest human rights award to Ilham Tohti – The 2019 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. Tohti advocated greater autonomy for the Uyghurs of Xinjiang and was sentenced to life in prison in 2014 on “separatism” charges. The President of the European Parliament noted that since 2017 over 1 million Uyghurs have been detained in internment camps in China. He called for Tohti’s release and for respect of minority rights in China. Jewher Ilham, Tohti’s daughter, noted that the award was a recognition of the current plight of the Uyghurs. She said “I hope that this award will motivate other countries to speak up and take actions against the atrocities the Uyghur people are facing today.” She plans to go to Strasbourg to accept the award for her father.
Who We Are
Co-chairs
Joel L. Lebowitz, Rutgers University
Walter Reich, George Washington University
Eugene Chudnovsky, Lehman College
Alexander Greer, Brooklyn College
Vice-chairs
Biology – Max E. Gottesman, Columbia University
Chemistry – Zafra Lerman, MIMSAD Inc.
Computer Science – Rachelle Heller, The George Washington University
Engineering – Philip Sarachik, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering
Computer Science – Jack Minker, University of Maryland, College Park
Mathematics – Simon Levin, Princeton University
Honorary Board Members
Nancy Andrews, Duke University
Myles Axton, Chief Editor, Genetics and Genomics Next
David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology*
Alan J. Bard, University of Texas
David Gross, University of California, Santa Barbara*
James Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara
Peter Lax, New York University
Giorgio Parisi, Roma I University La Sapienza
John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto*
Stuart Rice, University of Chicago
Sir Richard J. Roberts, New England Biolabs*
Maxine Singer, Carnegie Institution of Washington
Alfred I. Tauber, Boston University
Myrna Weissman, Columbia University
Former Honorary Board Members
Jacob Bigeleisen (deceased), SUNY, Stony Brook
Raoul Bott (deseased) Harvard University
Owen Chamberlain (deceased), University of California, Berkeley
Stanley Deser (deceased), Brandeis University
Edward Gerjuoy (deceased), University of Pittsburgh
Pierre Hohenberg (deceased), New York University
Walter Kohn (deceased), University of California, Santa Barbara*
Louis Nirenberg (deceased), New York University
Marshall Nirenberg (deceased), National Institutes of Health*
Myriam Sarachick (deceased), City College of New York
Harold Scheraga (deceased), Cornell University
Sylvan Schweber (deceased), Brandeis University
Steven Weinberg (deceased), University of Texas, Austin*
Rosalyn S. Yalow (deceased), Mount Sinai School of Medicine*
* Nobel laureate