CP EN FWIS 2011 final 4

Press Release Paris, November 9, 2010
The L’Oréal Foundation and UNESCO Recognise Five Exceptional Women Scientists
with the 2011 For Women in Science Awards
Professor Ahmed Zewail, President of the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards Jury, today announced the
five Laureates of the 2011 programme. Each year, five outstanding women scientists – one per continent – are honoured
for the contributions of their research, the strength of their commitments and their impact on society. With the Marie
Curie Nobel Centenary being celebrated in 2011, this year the For Women in Science Programme has a particularly
strong resonance, placing women and chemistry at the heart of science today.
The awards ceremony will take place on March 3, 2011 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. Each Laureate will receive US
$100,000 in recognition of her contribution to science.
Laureates of the 13 th Annual L’Oréal-UNESCO 2011 For Women in Science Awards
More than 1,000 high-level scientists from around the world were involved in the nomination of the Awards’ candidates,
who come from five continents. The International Awards Jury, comprised of 16 eminent members of the scientific
community, and presided by Professor Ahmed Zewail, recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, then selected the
five women researchers in the Physical Sciences as the Laureates of the 2011 Awards. Their pioneering projects
contribute to finding solutions to major challenges for our planet.
Professor Zewail declared, “It is a great pleasure for me to chair this jury and to promote this programme, which is of major
international importance. The women scientists from all over the world who are receiving the L’Oréal-UNESCO Awards make it
possible for us to hope for a better future.”
AFRICA and ARAB STATES
Professor Faiza AL-KHARAFI
Professor of Chemistry, Kuwait University, Safat, KUWAIT
For her work on corrosion, a problem of fundamental importance to water treatment and the oil industry.
Born in Kuwait, Faiza Al-Kharafi earned a BSc degree from Am Shams University in Egypt before returning to Kuwait to pursue her MSc
and PhD degrees from Kuwait University. She has filled in a number of teaching and research positions at the Kuwait University,
including serving as the first female president of the university from 1993 to 2002. The first Kuwait-France Chemistry Symposium was
held under her patronage in 2009, and she is currently Vice-President of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World.
ASIA / PACIFIC
Professor Vivian Wing-Wah YAM
Professor of Chemistry and Energy, The University of Hong Kong, CHINA
For her work on light-emitting materials and innovative ways of capturing solar energy.
Vivian Wing-Wah Yam was born in Hong Kong, where she pursued her university studies, obtaining her PhD at the University of Hong
Kong. After two years at the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong, she moved to the University of Hong Kong in 1990 where she became
Professor in 1997 and Chair Professor in 1999. She was Head of Chemistry for 6 years from 2000 to 2005, and became the Philip Wong
Wilson Wong Professor in Chemistry and Energy in 2009 at the University of Hong Kong. She is an Academician of the Chinese
Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, and has been awarded a Royal Society of
Chemistry (UK) Centenary lectureship and medal.
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EUROPE
Professor Anne L’HUILLIER
Professor of Atomic Physics, Lund University, SWEDEN
For her work on the development of the fastest camera for recording events in attoseconds (a billionth of a billionth of a second).
Anne L’Huillier obtained her PhD in Physical Sciences in France, the country of her birth, at the Université de Paris VI. After
postdoctoral research in Sweden and the United States, she spent the years 1986-1995 as a researcher at the French Atomic Energy
Commission. She then transferred to Lund Unversity, where she has been Professor Atomic Physics since 1997. She has received
numerous awards, is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and a member of the Swedish Academy of Sciences.
LATIN AMERICA
Professor Silvia TORRES-PEIMBERT
Professor Emeritus, Institute of Astronomy, Mexico City University (UNAM), Mexico City, MEXICO
For her work on the chemical composition of nebulae which is fundamental to our understanding of the origin of the universe.
A native of Mexico, Silvia Torres-Peimbert obtained her PhD at the University of California Berkeley, USA. She then became Professor
in the Faculty of Sciences and the Institute of Astronomy at UNAM. Today she is Emeritus Professor and since 2009 has been
Coordinator of Physical, Mathematical and Engineering Sciences at the university. She is a member of the American Astronomical
Society, the Academy of Sciences of the Developing World, and is a past Vice-President of the International Astronomical Union.
NORTH AMERICA
Professor Jillian BANFIELD
Professor of Earth and Planetary Science, of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, and of Materials Science and
Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, UNITED STATES
For her work on bacterial and material behaviour under extreme conditions relevant to the environment and the Earth.
Originally from Australia, Jillian Banfield received her bachelor's and master's degrees in Geology from the Australian National
University. She subsequently completed a PhD in Earth and Planetary Science at Johns Hopkins University, USA. From 1990-2001 she
was a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Since then she has been a professor at the University of California-Berkeley
and an affiliate scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. She has been honored with numerous prestigious awards,
including a MacArthur Fellowship, The Dana Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America, and a John Simon Guggenheim Foundation
Fellowship. She was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2006.
A pioneering programme for the promotion of women in science.
For the past 13 years, the L’Oréal Corporate Foundation and UNESCO have sought to recognise women researchers
who, through the scope of their work, have contributed to overcoming the global challenges of tomorrow. Each year, the
For Women in Science Programme highlights scientific excellence and encourages talent.
Faced with global challenges such as the acceleration of new technologies, aging populations or the threat to biodiversity,
L’Oréal and UNESCO remain convinced that these women researchers will have a major impact on society and lay the
foundations for the future. As such, L’Oréal and UNESCO want to contribute to their recognition and provide them with
the means to continue their commitment to science with energy and passion.
In 13 years, the L’Oréal-UNESCO Awards have recognised 67 Laureates, two of whom received the Nobel Prize in 2009,
and 864 Fellowships have been granted to young women scientists from 93 countries so that they can continue their
research projects. As a result, the programme has become a benchmark of scientific excellence on an international scale,
revealing the contributions of these scientific women each year.
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Press contacts
L’Oréal
Catherine Rose / 01 47 56 85 42 / crose@dgc.loreal.com
Laura Lovasik / 01 47 56 76 77 / llovasik@dgc.loreal.com
www.forwomeninscience.com
http://twitter.com/4womeninscience
ELAN Agency
Emily Le Moult / 01 40 89 96 41 / emily.lemoult@agence-elan.com
Courtney MacNeil / 01 40 89 96 42 / courtney.macneil@agence-elan.com
UNESCO Press Office
Sue Williams / 01 45 68 17 06 / s.williams@unesco.org
www.unesco.org
About the L’Oréal Foundation
The L'Oréal Foundation, created in 2007, pursues the goal of making the world a better place each day. It draws on the Group's
values and business to strengthen and perpetuate the Group’s commitment to social responsibility.
As the second-largest corporate foundation in France with a multi-annual budget of €40 million, the L'Oréal Foundation is committed
to three types of action: promoting scientific research in the fundamental and human sciences, supporting education and helping
individuals made vulnerable by alternations to their appearance to reclaim their rightful place in society.
About UNESCO
Since its creation in 1945, UNESCO has pursued its mission of promoting science at the service of sustainable development and
peace. It stresses policies and the reinforcement of capacities in science, technology and innovation, science education, sustainable
management of freshwater and ocean and terrestrial resources, the protection of biodiversity and lastly climate change. The
Organization also has an overarching objective to eliminate all forms of discrimination and to promote equality between men and
women, especially in scientific research.
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