Introduction
of the 2008 Albert Einstein World Award of Science Winner

by David P. Dobkin
Dean of the Faculty Princeton University

(Princeton University, November 11, 2008)
The recipient of the World Cultural Council´s 2008 Albert Einstein World Award of Science is Ada Yonath, professor of structural biology and director of the Helen and Milton A. Kimmelman Center for Biomolecular Structure and Assembly at the Weizmann Institute for Science in Israel. A distinguished scientist whose research focuses on structural biology, and specifically ribosomal crystallography, Dr. Yonath is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities; the European Academy of Sciences and Art, and the European Molecular Biology Organization. Among her many honors, Dr. Yonath was a co-recipient of the Wolf Prize in Chemistry in 2006, the Harvey Prize, and the 2008 L´Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science for her work on how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics.

This year she adds the prestigious Albert Einstein World Award of Science to this list of honors. This award is given for her pioneering contributions to protein biosynthesis in the field of ribosomal crystallography and her introduction of innovative techniques in cryo-bio crystallography. These innovative techniques are now used routinely in many laboratories, and many scientists have based their research on her discoveries. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my great honor to introduce this year´s recipient of the Albert Einstein World Award of Science, Dr. Ada Yonath.