Theodore Roosevelt Park

American Nobel Laureates Honored At Theodore Roosevelt Park

Tuesday, September 24, 2013
No. 81
http://www.nyc.gov/parks

New inscriptions to the nation’s only Nobel Monument were unveiled on September 23 by NYC Parks Commissioner Veronica M. White, Ambassador of Sweden to the U.S. Björn Lyrvall, Ambassador of Norway to the U.S. Kåre Aas, and Dr. Robert J. Lefkowitz, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry of 2012. Also in attendance was Dr. Peter Agre, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry of 2003; Dr. Robert Wilson, Nobel Laureate in Physics of 1978; Dr. Lee Goldman, Dean of the Columbia University Medical Center; Jean Donahue, principal at the Bronx High School of Science; as well as several members of the New York Academy of Sciences and faculty from New York University and Columbia University.

“The parks of New York City are home to numerous monuments, both large and modest, from commemorative plaques to triumphal arches – but the Nobel Monument in Theodore Roosevelt Park is unique in that it honors intellectual achievement,” said Commissioner White. “We are proud to pay tribute to the five newest American Laureates by adding their names to this grand monument, so that New Yorkers and visitors alike may reflect on their vast contributions to society.”

No other country has had as many Nobel Prize recipients as the United States since the awards were first presented in 1901. The first American to be awarded the Nobel Prize was President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. Since then, 332 Americans have had universal recognition of their achievements in physics, chemistry, literature, economy, physiology / medicine and for work in peace.

The American Nobel Laureates of 2012, whose name inscriptions were unveiled on the monument, are:

Dr. Lefkowitz, attending and speaking on behalf of all the honorees, is a native New Yorker and a graduate of Bronx High School of Science, Columbia College and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Currently, he serves as James B. Duke Professor of Medicine at Duke University as well as Professor of Biochemistry. He has been an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute since 1976. Dr. Lefkowitz was awarded the Nobel Prize for his studies of G-protein-coupled receptors.

The Nobel Monument was erected 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 was
fittingly placed in the park named after President Roosevelt, the United States’ very
first recipient of the Nobel Prize. It is the only monument in a City park with the
names of living persons inscribed.

The monument, which now includes the names of all 332 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.

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Press Contacts:
Arthur Pincus / Phil Abramson Melinda Martino
(NYC Parks) (Consulate General of Sweden)
(212) 360-1311 (917) 340-9330