The Vilcek Foundation
Encyclopedia
The Vilcek Foundation aims to raise public awareness of the contributions of immigrants to the sciences, arts, and culture in the United States.
The Foundation was established in 2000 by Jan
and Marica Vilcek, immigrants from the former Czechoslovakia. The mission of the Foundation was inspired by the couple’s respective careers in biomedical science and art history, as well as their personal experiences and appreciation for the opportunities offered them as newcomers to the United States. The Foundation hosts immigrant artists at the Vilcek Foundation gallery space in New York City, awarding annual prizes in the biomedical sciences and the arts and humanities, and sponsoring programs such as The Santa Fe Opera
and the Hawaii International Film Festival
.
. The Foundation awards two Vilcek Prizes annually, one in biomedical science and the other in the arts and humanities. Each year, the Vilcek Prize for the Arts is awarded in a different category of the arts and humanities; previous categories include fine arts, architecture, music, film-making and culinary arts. The 2011 Vilcek Prize for the Arts will be awarded in the field of literature.
Candidates of the Vilcek Prize are nominated independently, and the final recipients are selected by an independent panels of experts in each respective field.
Previous recipients of the Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science include Dr. Rudolf Jaenisch
, the founding member of the Whitehead Institute
at MIT; Dr. Joan Massagué, Chairman of the Cancer and Biology Genetics Program at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
; Dr. Inder Verma, the American Cancer Society Professor of Molecular Biology at the Salk Institute; and Dr. Huda Zoghbi, Professor of Pediatrics, Neurology, Neuroscience, and Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine
, and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
. The 2010 recipient of the Vilcek Prize for Biomedical Science is Dr. Alexander Varshavsky
, the Howard and Glen Laurie Smits Professor of Cell Biology at the California Institute of Technology
.
Recipients of the Vilcek Prize in the Arts include the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude
; architect and urban planner Denise Scott Brown
; acclaimed classical music composer Osvaldo Golijov
; and director Mike Nichols
, responsible for American classics such as The Graduate
. In 2010, José Andrés
, the chef behind celebrated restaurants such as Jaleo and Minibar by jose andres, and the host and producer of the PBS travel series Made in Spain, received the Vilcek Prize in the category of the culinary arts.
and Dr. Howard Chang, an Associate Professor of Dermatology and principal investigator in the Program in Epithelial Biology at the Stanford University School of Medicine
. The 2010 Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise was awarded to Dr. Harmit Malik, an Associate Member at the Seattle-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
, and to Chef Varin Keokitvon, a Chef Instructor at the non-profit organization FareStart
, which provides culinary job training to homeless and disadvantaged individuals. The Vilcek Foundation is currently accepting applications for the 2011 Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science and Literature.
. Previous artists and performers hosted at the space include Cambodian-born filmmaker Kai-Duc Luong; Slovak composer and pianist Peter Breiner
; Japanese-born sculptor Ryo Toyonaga; and Korean-born artist Il Lee
.
The Foundation was established in 2000 by Jan
Jan Vilcek
Jan T. Vilček M.D., Ph.D. is a biomedical scientist, educator, inventor and philanthropist. He is currently a professor in the Department of Microbiology at the New York University School of Medicine and President of The Vilcek Foundation....
and Marica Vilcek, immigrants from the former Czechoslovakia. The mission of the Foundation was inspired by the couple’s respective careers in biomedical science and art history, as well as their personal experiences and appreciation for the opportunities offered them as newcomers to the United States. The Foundation hosts immigrant artists at the Vilcek Foundation gallery space in New York City, awarding annual prizes in the biomedical sciences and the arts and humanities, and sponsoring programs such as The Santa Fe Opera
Santa Fe Opera
The Santa Fe Opera is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe in the U.S. state of New Mexico, headquartered on a former guest ranch of .-General history:...
and the Hawaii International Film Festival
Hawaii International Film Festival
The Hawaii International Film Festival is a film festival held in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It was started in 1981 by Jeannette Paulson Hereniko and has been held annually in the fall for two weeks...
.
Vilcek Prize
The Vilcek Prizes are awarded to foreign-born individuals for achievement in the arts and sciences; they consist of a $50,000 cash award and an award sculpture designed by Stefan SagmeisterStefan Sagmeister
Stefan Sagmeister is a New York-based graphic designer and typographer. He has his own design firm—Sagmeister Inc.—in New York City. He has designed album covers for Lou Reed, OK Go, The Rolling Stones, David Byrne, Aerosmith and Pat Metheny.-Biography:Sagmeister studied graphic design at the...
. The Foundation awards two Vilcek Prizes annually, one in biomedical science and the other in the arts and humanities. Each year, the Vilcek Prize for the Arts is awarded in a different category of the arts and humanities; previous categories include fine arts, architecture, music, film-making and culinary arts. The 2011 Vilcek Prize for the Arts will be awarded in the field of literature.
Candidates of the Vilcek Prize are nominated independently, and the final recipients are selected by an independent panels of experts in each respective field.
Previous recipients of the Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science include Dr. Rudolf Jaenisch
Rudolf Jaenisch
Rudolf Jaenisch is a biologist at MIT. He is a pioneer of transgenic science, in which an animal’s genetic makeup is altered. Jaenisch has focused on creating transgenic mice to study cancer and neurological diseases....
, the founding member of the Whitehead Institute
Whitehead Institute
Founded in 1982, the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research is a non-profit research and teaching institution located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA....
at MIT; Dr. Joan Massagué, Chairman of the Cancer and Biology Genetics Program at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center is a cancer treatment and research institution founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital...
; Dr. Inder Verma, the American Cancer Society Professor of Molecular Biology at the Salk Institute; and Dr. Huda Zoghbi, Professor of Pediatrics, Neurology, Neuroscience, and Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine, located in the Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas, USA, is a highly regarded medical school and leading center for biomedical research and clinical care...
, and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Howard Hughes Medical Institute is a United States non-profit medical research organization based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It was founded by the American businessman Howard Hughes in 1953. It is one of the largest private funding organizations for biological and medical research in the United...
. The 2010 recipient of the Vilcek Prize for Biomedical Science is Dr. Alexander Varshavsky
Alexander Varshavsky
Alexander Varshavsky is a Russian-American biochemist and recipient of the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research, the Wolf Prize in Medicine and the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize from Columbia University in 2001 for his research on ubiquitination...
, the Howard and Glen Laurie Smits Professor of Cell Biology at the California Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...
.
Recipients of the Vilcek Prize in the Arts include the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Christo and Jeanne-Claude were a married couple who created environmental works of art...
; architect and urban planner Denise Scott Brown
Denise Scott Brown
Denise Scott Brown, is an architect, planner, writer, educator, and principal of the firm Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates in Philadelphia...
; acclaimed classical music composer Osvaldo Golijov
Osvaldo Golijov
Osvaldo Noé Golijov is a Grammy award–winning composer of classical music.-Biography:Osvaldo Golijov was born in and grew up in La Plata, Argentina, in a Jewish family that had emigrated to Argentina in the 1920s from Romania and Russia.Golijov has developed a rich musical language, the result of...
; and director Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols is a German-born American television, stage and film director, writer, producer and comedian. He began his career in the 1950s as one half of the comedy duo Nichols and May, along with Elaine May. In 1968 he won the Academy Award for Best Director for the film The Graduate...
, responsible for American classics such as The Graduate
The Graduate
The Graduate is a 1967 American comedy-drama motion picture directed by Mike Nichols. It is based on the 1963 novel The Graduate by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from Williams College. The screenplay was by Buck Henry, who makes a cameo appearance as a hotel clerk, and Calder...
. In 2010, José Andrés
José Andrés
José Ramón Andrés Puerta , known as José Andrés, is a Spanish chef often credited for bringing the small plates dining concept to America...
, the chef behind celebrated restaurants such as Jaleo and Minibar by jose andres, and the host and producer of the PBS travel series Made in Spain, received the Vilcek Prize in the category of the culinary arts.
Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise
The Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise is awarded to foreign-born individuals who have demonstrated outstanding achievement during the early stages of their careers. Like the Vilcek Prize, the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise is awarded each year in the fields of biomedical science and the arts or humanities. Unlike the Vilcek Prize, however, awardees are selected through an application process. In order to be eligible for the $25,000 prize, applicants must have been born abroad, reside permanently in the United States, and be no older than 38 years of age. The first recipients of the Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise are filmmaker Ham TranHam Tran
Ham Tran is a Vietnamese American film writer/editor/director, of Hoa ancestry. He earned an MFA in film directing from the UCLA Film School and is most famous for his thesis film "The Anniversary", which was shortlisted for an Academy Award for Live Action Short Film...
and Dr. Howard Chang, an Associate Professor of Dermatology and principal investigator in the Program in Epithelial Biology at the Stanford University School of Medicine
Stanford University School of Medicine
Stanford University School of Medicine is a leading medical school located at Stanford University Medical Center in Stanford, California. Originally based in San Francisco, California as Cooper Medical College, it is the oldest continuously running medical school in the western United States...
. The 2010 Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise was awarded to Dr. Harmit Malik, an Associate Member at the Seattle-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, is one of the world’s leading cancer research institutes...
, and to Chef Varin Keokitvon, a Chef Instructor at the non-profit organization FareStart
FareStart
FareStart is a non-profit, social entrepreneurial organization in Seattle, Washington, USA, that operates a unique job placement and training program benefiting homeless and disadvantaged men, women, and youth...
, which provides culinary job training to homeless and disadvantaged individuals. The Vilcek Foundation is currently accepting applications for the 2011 Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science and Literature.
Cultural Events
The Foundation is located in a landmark, Beaux Arts-style carriage house in New York City's Upper East Side, which serves as both its headquarters and gallery space. The space is used to showcase the work of innovative immigrant artists, designers, filmmakers, and others, many of whom have yet to achieve critical or financial success. Currently, the Vilcek Foundation Gallery is previewing the spring 2011 collection of Russian-born fashion designer Madina Vadache. Their last exhibition focused on the immigrant and first-generation talent behind the ABC television show LOSTLost
-In cinema or television:*Lost , an ABC drama about people who become stranded on a mysterious island*Lost , a short-lived reality television program*Lost , an American thriller starring Dean Cain...
. Previous artists and performers hosted at the space include Cambodian-born filmmaker Kai-Duc Luong; Slovak composer and pianist Peter Breiner
Peter Breiner
Peter Breiner is a Slovak pianist, conductor, and composer.Breiner began to play and study the piano at age four. At age nine, he started to study at Conservatory in Košice, Slovakia...
; Japanese-born sculptor Ryo Toyonaga; and Korean-born artist Il Lee
Il Lee
Il Lee is a Korean American contemporary artist currently living in New York City. He is best known for working almost exclusively in the medium of ballpoint pen on paper and canvas. His works have been exhibited in Seoul, Paris, New York City and San Jose. His work is minimalist in style and can...
.
Leadership
- President and Co-founder: Jan VilcekJan VilcekJan T. Vilček M.D., Ph.D. is a biomedical scientist, educator, inventor and philanthropist. He is currently a professor in the Department of Microbiology at the New York University School of Medicine and President of The Vilcek Foundation....
- Vice President and Co-founder: Marica Vilcek
- Executive Director: Rick Kinsel
- Board members: Jan Vilcek, Marica Vilcek, Rick Kinsel, S. Peter Ludwig, Joan Massague, Richard Gaddes