MEN AND WOMEN OF VISION

摘要

The Rolex Awards for Enterprise recognise individuals who pursue original ideas that better their communities and the world. In this special supplement, we look at past winners' stories and shine a light on the history and ethos of the awards Sequestered in a large, circular room stacked with great mounds of documented evidence, a dozen or so men and women deliberate the merits of a unique collection of innovative projects. Every two years, the Swiss watchmaker Rolex gathers a panel of eminent explorers, scientists, environmentalists, educators and other experts. Their task is to whittle down the shortlisted entries for the Rolex Awards for Enterprise to just five laureates. The demanding job started 12 months before, when a team of scientific researchers began assessing about 1,500 entries. Now, the Rolex Awards jury has been asked to make the final selections. "Being on the jury allows you to extend opportunities to those passionate, curious people who are pushing back the barriers of knowledge," says Dr Kathryn Sullivan, director of the Battelle Centre for Math and Science Education Policy at Ohio State University. The former astronaut first sat on the jury in 2000, and then again in 2008, the 30th anniversary of the first Rolex prize-giving ceremony.