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Prizes

The Vilcek Foundation champions the inclusion of diverse perspectives for the advancement of the arts and sciences. We celebrate and invest in immigrant artists and scientists at every stage of their careers.

The Vilcek Foundation Prizes were established in 2006. Since then, we have awarded over $5.8 million to immigrants from 56 different countries.

132

Total prizewinners

56

Countries represented

$5.83M

Awarded

Vilcek Prizes

The Vilcek Prizes are awarded to immigrants with a legacy of major accomplishment in the biomedical sciences and the arts and humanities, including: literature, culinary arts, music, filmmaking, architecture, dance, design, fashion, theatre, and visual arts. The Vilcek Prize includes a $100,000 cash award.

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Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise

The Vilcek Prizes for Creative Promise are awarded to emerging to mid-career immigrant professionals in the biomedical sciences and the arts and humanities who have demonstrated outstanding achievement early in their careers. The Creative Promise Prize includes a $50,000 cash award.

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Vilcek Prize for Excellence

The Vilcek Prize for Excellence is awarded to immigrants who have had a profound impact on American society and world culture, or to individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to immigrant causes. The Vilcek Prize for Excellence includes a $100,000 cash award.

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Grants for Organizations

The Vilcek Foundation supports the work of a small number of 501(c)(3) cultural and educational institutions in the United States for programs and initiatives that complement the foundation’s mission.

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Meet our 2021 Vilcek Foundation Prizewinners

Ruth Lehmann

Ruth Lehmann receives the Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science for unraveling the molecular basis by which germ cells, which give rise to sperm and egg cells, are formed.

Rodrigo Prieto

Rodrigo Prieto receives the Vilcek Prize in Filmmaking for his virtuosity and versatility—the sheer excellence and inventiveness of his work across styles and genres—and his central role in creating some of contemporary cinema’s most indelible works.

Andrew Yang

Andrew Yang receives the Vilcek Prize for Excellence in Public Service in recognition of his leadership in advancing ideas addressing issues ranging from wealth inequality, to understanding how corporations use individuals’ personal data, to autism and American families.

Mohamed Abou Donia

Mohamed Abou Donia receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science for demonstrating the potential of the human microbiome as a source of novel drugs and uncovering the basis of microbiome-driven drug metabolism.

Ibrahim Cissé

Ibrahim Cissé receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science for using super-resolution biological imaging to directly visualize the dynamic nature of gene expression in living cells.

Silvi Rouskin

Silvi Rouskin receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science for developing methods to unravel the shapes of RNA molecules inside cells and aiding the potential development of RNA-based therapeutics.

Juan Pablo González

Juan Pablo González receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Filmmaking for the artistic rigor and deep emotional engagement that he brings to his immersive and intimate explorations of his hometown in rural Mexico.

Miko Revereza

Miko Revereza receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Filmmaking for the ingenuity and urgency with which he bridges the personal and the political, in works that challenge us to rethink aspects of both documentary filmmaking and the immigrant experience.

Nanfu Wang

Nanfu Wang receives the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Filmmaking for the impact and courage of her riveting documentaries, which are lucid and unflinching in confronting the consequences of systemic oppression and corruption in China.