HRH Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden To Present Awards To Southland Students at Nobel Prize Centennial Luncheon.

News Editors

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 22, 2001

Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden will join in the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prize at a luncheon on October 25 at the California Science Center.

The Crown Princess will present cash awards to four high school students whose winning essays about the Nobel Prize and a California Nobel Laureate of their choice were selected by a panel of science teachers and others sponsored by the California Science Center as a part of a state-wide celebration of the centennial.

October 2001 was proclaimed by Governor Gray Davis as California Nobel Laureate Month, and more than a dozen California Nobel Laureates are expected to attend the luncheon, along with Governor Davis and Ambassador Jan Eliasson of Sweden. A trumpet fanfare by the Trumpeters of the Stockholm Philharmonic will precede the introduction of the Nobel Laureates. The Nobel Luncheon is a component of the California Nobel Prize Centennial organized by the Consulates General of Sweden in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

"There are more Nobel Laureates associated with California research institutions than anywhere else in the world, more than 100 with the addition of four new laureates announced for 2001," said Andreas Ekman, the Consul General of Sweden in Los Angeles. "The centennial is an opportunity to acknowledge the legacy of Alfred Nobel, the California Nobel Laureates and the role of science in society. It is also an opportunity to celebrate the growing cooperation between Californian and Swedish research institutions and businesses."

Television personality Bill Nye, "the Science Guy," will emcee the luncheon, which will benefit the California State Summer School for mathematics and Science (COSMOS), designed and administered by the University of California for high school students who excel in these disciplines.

"Nobel Laureates could be no finer role models for COSMOS students to emulate," remarked former First Lady of California and luncheon chairman, Gayle Edlund Wilson. "Through COSMOS, we seek to engage, enrich, and build a community that encourages talented youth to pursue and remain committed to mathematics and science, which are fundamental to our state's economy and to our citizenry's future," said Wilson, who has a science background and helped marshal legislation to create COSMOS. The centennial celebration will establish the California Nobel Prize Centennial Legacy Scholarship fund for students enrolled in COSMOS.

Preeminent Swedish glass designer and manufacturer, Orrefors/Kosta Boda is providing the tabletop design at the luncheon, including one-of-a-kind sculptures that will be the focal point of each of the 50 tables. Oreffors Nobel champagne flutes will be at each place setting for the traditional Nobel Toast. Swedish chef, Ulf Anders, of Gustaf Anders Restaurant, has created a sumptuous menu inspired by historic Nobel Banquets annually held in Stockholm since 1901. The menu will feature Princess cake in honor of Her Royal Majesty. Local pianist, David Troy Francis, will perform "Petite Romance for Victoria," especially composed for the occasion by Lars Anderson.

The presidents and chancellors of the Southern California universities will attend, including Dr. David Baltimore, Nobel Laureate and President of the California Institute of Technology, Dr. Steven Sample, President of the University of Southern California, and Chancellors Albert Carnesale and Henry T. Yang of UCLA and UC Santa Barbara, respectively. Dr. Janne Carlsson, President of the Swedish Royal Academy of Science, which annually chooses Nobel Laureates in Physics and Chemistry, will also attend. The University of California, Stanford, Caltech, the Exploratorium, the California Science Center and KQED are program partners in the centennial celebration together with Consulates General of Sweden.

Amgen, Beckman Foundation, BP, Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, Kavli Foundation, W.M. Keck Foundation, Northrop Grumman, Sun Microsystems, Inc., TIAA-CREF, and the Winnick Family Foundation have generously underwritten the state-wide program, which include academic symposia in Los Angeles and San Francisco, the student Nobel Essay Contest for junior high and high school students, and an ongoing interactive information kiosk program designed for science center venues by the Nobel e-Museum in Stockholm. For additional information, see www.calnobel.org.