Recipients of the 2019 Breakthrough Prize were celebrated recently at a glittering awards ceremony held at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View.
Often called the “Oscars of Science”, the 7th annual event brought together luminaries in the science and tech communities, alongside celebrities, athletes, musicians and dozens of current and prior Breakthrough Prize laureates for a festive celebration of science.
Mark Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan
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A combined total of $22 million was awarded during the evening, in recognition of groundbreaking, research achievements in Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics and Mathematics.
Each Breakthrough Prize is $3 million, the largest individual monetary prize in science.
Zach Bogue, Marissa Mayer, Thandie Newton
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Acclaimed actor, producer and philanthropist Pierce Brosnan guided the program, which featured performances by Academy Award winner and four-time Grammy Award winner Lionel Richie and Chinese Music Sensation G.E.M..
Pierce Brosnan
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There were also presentations from Orlando Bloom, Ron Howard, Rachel McAdams, Julianne Moore, Thandie Newton, Lupita Nyong’o, and Eddie Redmayne.
Lionel Richie
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A highlight of the evening was a tribute to the late astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, which featured statements by Eddie Redmayne and Hawking’s daughter, Lucy Hawking.
Eddie Redmayne, Yuri Milner, Lucy Hawking
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Hawking inspired the theme of the evening — “Look up” – based on a quote in his final book, Brief Answers to the Big Questions:
“Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious.”
Mark Zuckerberg, Yuri Milner
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Prize recipients included Dr. Frank Bennett, Adrian R. Krainer, Angelika Amon, Xiaowei Zhuang, Zhijian “James” Chen, Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Charles Kane, Eugene Mele, Vincent Lafforgue, Brian Metzger, Rana Adhikari, Lisa Barsotti, Matthew Evans, Daniel Harlow, Daniel L. Jafferis, Aron Wall, Chenyang Xu, Karim Adiprasito, June Huh, Kaisa Matomäki, Maksym Radziwill.
Anne Wojcicki, Janet Wojcicki, Susan Wojcicki
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“Every year I am inspired by the Breakthrough Prize laureates and the deep insights that are made possible by pure curiosity-driven research,” said Breakthrough Prize co-founder, Anne Wojcicki.
“This year is particularly special, with the special recognition of Jocelyn Bell Burnell’s groundbreaking contributions at a time when women were underrepresented and unrecognized,” she added.
Orlando Bloom
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Additionally, a “Breakthrough Junior Challenge” prize was awarded to 16-year old Samay Godika of India. He’ll receive $250,000 in educational prizes, which his science teacher will receive $50,000, and his school, the National Public School, in Koramangala, will receive a new science laboratory valued at $100,000 designed by and in partnership with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Box Co-Founder and CEO Aaron Levie with Joelle Emerson
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Directed and produced by Don Mischer was broadcast live on National Geographic TV on November 4th.
See more photos from the spectacular event below!
Lupita Nyong’o in Oscar de la Renta
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Nicole Shanahan and Sergey Brin
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Isabelle Boemeke and Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb
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Karolina Kurkova
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Nicolas Berggruen
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Thandie Newton in Schiaparelli
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Marissa Mayer
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Julianne Moore
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Julia Milner, Yuri Milner
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Nikesh Arora, Ayesha Thapar
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Nathan Blecharczyk, Elizabeth Morey Blecharczyk
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Andrea Willms and Philipp Schindler, Google’s SVP & Chief Business Officer
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Lana Del Rey
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Lachy Groom, Sam Altman
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Kara McCullough
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Mark Zuckerberg, Priscilla Chan Zuckerberg
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Juliet de Baubigny, NBC Universal’s vice chairman Ron Meyer, and Vivi Nevo
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Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, David Siegel
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Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong and Raline Shah
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David Morris, Naomi Gleit, Facebook’s VP of Social Good
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Radhika Jones
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Haim Saban, Cheryl Saban
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Anne Wojcicki
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Rakuten founder and CEO Hiroshi Mikitani
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Julia Milner
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Irina Grishin, Dmitry Grishin, the co-founder and Chairman of Mail.Ru
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Robinhood co-founder and co-CEO Vladimir Tenev and Celina Tenev
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Wendi Deng Murdoch
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Jim Breyer
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Rachel McAdams in Rami Kadi
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Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi
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Lily Collins
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Hans Ulrich Obrist, Yana Peel
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Charlotte Bottger, Ijad Madisch
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Bernard Tyson, Denise Bradley Tyson
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Jessica Taneja, Hemant Taneja
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Jessica Lessin, Sam Lessin
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Jessica Sittig, Aaron Sittig
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Kathy Gong
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Bloomberg’s Olivia Zaleski and Flexport CEO Ryan Petersen