Featured series 
Michael O. Rabin, Thomas J. Watson Sr. Professor of Computer Science at Harvard, will be honored with the 2010 Dan David Prize on May 9 at Tel Aviv University.
Photo by Eliza Grinnell/Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Campus & Community
Michael Rabin to share in $1M prize
SEAS professor recognized as 2010 Dan David laureate
Michael O. Rabin of Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) has been named a 2010 Dan David Prize laureate.
Rabin will share the $1 million prize with Leonard Kleinrock, University of California, Los Angeles, and Gordon E. Moore, Woodside, Calif., who were also recognized in the “Future” category.
The international prize covers three time dimensions — past, present, and future — that represent realms of human achievement. Past refers to fields that expand knowledge of former times; present recognizes achievements that shape and enrich society today; and future focuses on breakthroughs that hold great promise for improvement of the world. Three prizes of $1 million each are granted annually in the fields chosen for the three time dimensions.
Rabin, the Thomas J. Watson Sr. Professor of Computer Science at the SEAS, was recognized for breakthroughs in the field of “Computers and Telecommunications.” Rabin was noted for his “major research results, which have had and which will continue to have a great impact on the shape of computer and communication technology and, in particular, for his work on automata and complexity theory, on probabilistic algorithms, and on ways to improve privacy and create unbreakable ways to encrypt data, making secrecy, privacy and protection ever more crucial to society,” according to the Dan David Prize announcement.
To learn more about Rabin’s work, visit Rabin’s page on the Dan David Prize Web site.
Other Dan David Prize laureates for 2010 include:
Past — in the field of “March Towards Democracy”: Giorgio Napolitano, president of the Republic of Italy.
Present — in the field of “Literature — Rendition of the 20th Century”: Amitav Ghosh, India/New York, for his novels, and Margaret Atwood, Toronto, for her versatile and prolific writing.
Headquartered at Tel Aviv University, the prize is named after international businessman and philanthropist Dan David. The laureates, who donate 10 percent of their prize money toward 20 doctoral and postdoctoral scholarships, will be honored at a ceremony on May 9 at Tel Aviv University in the presence of Israeli President Shimon Peres.
For more information, visit the Dan David Prize Web site.
