The coronavirus pandemic has challenged organizations to consider how they approach their work, making it necessary to adapt communications, programming, and events to uphold public health regulations and maintain social distancing.

The Vilcek Foundation’s Annual Awards Gala celebrates the recipients of the Vilcek Prizes, the Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise, and the Vilcek Prize for Excellence. In the interest of public health and safety, and out of respect for our local and global community, the Vilcek Foundation made the decision in early March to cancel this year’s gala reception, which was scheduled for April 2. In lieu of the gala, we have developed an online platform to share the achievements of this year’s Vilcek Foundation Prizewinners.

“This microsite serves the core purposes of our annual gala: to honor and celebrate the work of the Vilcek Foundation Prizewinners, and to share their work with our foundation’s supporters, with our prizewinners’ friends and families, and with the general public,” said Jan Vilcek, CEO and chairman of the Vilcek Foundation.

“The highlights of each year’s gala include the remarks of our prizewinners and presenters, the videos we produce in recognition of our awardees’ achievements, and Jan and Marica’s speeches,” said Rick Kinsel, president of the Vilcek Foundation. “This alternative preserves all of these elements, and makes them accessible to people across the world.”

There is no better proof of the enormous contributions immigrants have made and continue making to this country than the accomplishments of our prizewinners.

In February, the foundation announced all of this year’s prizewinners: Edwidge Danticat, recipient of the Vilcek Prize in Literature; Xiaowei Zhuang, recipient of the Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science; Chief Judge Robert A. Katzmann, recipient of the Vilcek Prize for Excellence in the Administration of Justice; the recipients of Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Literature: Yaa Gyasi, Valeria Luiselli, and Jenny Xie; and the recipients of Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science: Kivanç Birsoy, Viviana Gradinaru, and Martin Jonikas.

“We are very proud of the accomplishments of our prizewinners this year in the field of biomedical science and literature,” said Jan Vilcek. “There is no better proof of the enormous contributions immigrants have made and continue making to this country than the accomplishments of our prizewinners.”

The site highlighting and honoring the recipients of the 2020 Vilcek Foundation Prizes may be found here: http://2020gala.vilcek.org. We encourage our friends and supporters to explore the videos, messages from the prizewinners and presenters, photos, and the gala program book. We are inspired by the work of this year’s prizewinners, and hope that this site may serve as a reminder of the resilience, ingenuity, and creativity of humanity.