Theodore Roosevelt Park

The Daily Plant : Wednesday, June 3, 2009

2008 American Nobel Laureates Honored In Theodore Roosevelt Park

New inscriptions to New York City’s only Nobel Monument were unveiled on Thursday, May 28 by Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe; Ambassador Ulf Hjertonsson, Consul General of Sweden in New York; Marjorie B. Tiven, Commissioner of the New York City Commission for the United Nations, Consular Corps and Protocol (UNCCP); and 2008 Nobel Laureate Dr. Martin Chalfie (Chemistry). Also in attendance was 1990 Nobel Laureate Dr. Joseph Murray (Medicine). Musical entertainment was provided by choral ensemble Sound of Sweden.

“It is an honor to unveil the inscriptions for the 2008 American Nobel Laureates on New York City’s only Nobel Monument, which is located in Theodore Roosevelt Park,” said Commissioner Benepe. “This park, like all parks, serves as an agora where New Yorkers come together, congregate, take inspiration from the beauty of nature, and share ideas. No country in the world boasts as many Nobel Laureates as the United States, and many Nobel Prize-winning ideas have come from New Yorkers. The Nobel Monument now bears inscriptions of the names of all 306 American Laureates, reinforcing its role as a monument to intellectual achievement.”

The American Nobel Laureates of 2008, whose name inscriptions were unveiled on the monument, are:

Yoichiro Nambu, Physics
Martin Chalfie, Chemistry
Roger Y. Tsien, Chemistry
Paul R. Krugman, Economics

The Nobel Monument was raised in 2003 in a joint project initiated and overseen by the Consulate General of Sweden and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation with the purpose of honoring all American Nobel Laureates as well as the founder of the Nobel Prize, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel. The monument, which now includes the names of all 306 American Nobel Laureates, was designed by renowned Swedish sculptor Sivert Lindblom and financed through the generous support of Merck Company Foundation; Skanska; Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation; Ambassador and Mrs. Lyndon L. Olson Jr. and NCR Corporation.

For more information, please visit http://nobelmonument.com or www.nyc.gov/parks.

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

“Life is a lot like jazz... it's best when you improvise.”

George Gershwin
(1898 – 1937)