5 US scientists share math, chemistry Wolf prizes

Prof. William Moerner of Stanford and Prof. Allen Bard of Texas University will share the chemistry prize "for the ingenious creation of a new field of science."

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Five American scientists will share the prestigious $100,000 Wolf Prizes in Mathematics and Chemistry in a May ceremony at the Knesset. Prof. William Moerner of Stanford University in California and Prof. Allen Bard of the University of Texas at Austin will share the chemistry prize "for the ingenious creation of a new field of science - single molecule spectroscopy and electrochemistry - with impact at the nanoscopic regime, from the molecular and cellular domain to complex material systems," stated the international jury. Belgian-born Prof. Pierre Deligné and Prof. Phillip Griffiths of Princeton University in New Jersey and British-born Prof. David Mumford of Brown University in Rhode Island will share the mathematics prize for their work in several fields of math. The Israel-based Wolf Foundation was established by the late German-born inventor, diplomat and philanthropist Dr. Ricardo Wolf. Until now, a total of 241 scientists and artists from 22 countries have been honored.