TEL AVIV, Israel, February 16 /PRNewswire/ -- The international Dan David Prize, which annually awards three prizes of US$1 million each for outstanding achievement, announced the names of its 2010 laureates today.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20100215/377683 )

The Dan David Prize is named after international businessman and philanthropist Dan David and is headquartered at Tel Aviv University. The laureates, who donate 10% of their prize money towards 20 doctoral and postdoctoral scholarships, will be honoured at a ceremony on

May 9, 2010 at Tel Aviv University in the presence of the President of the State of Israel,

Mr. Shimon Peres.

The 2010 Dan David Prize laureates, in the Past, Present and Future Time Dimensions, are:

Past - in the field of March Towards Democracy - Mr. Giorgio Napolitano, President of the Republic of Italy, for his dedication to the cause of Parliamentary democracy, thereby contributing to a strengthening of democratic values and institutions in Italy and Europe; and for his courage and intellectual integrity which have been crucial in healing the wounds of the Cold War in Europe, as well as the scars left in Italy in the wake of fascism. Present - in the field of Literature - Rendition of the 20th Century - Mr. Amitav Ghosh (India/NY, USA) for his novels which offer a panoramic treatment of twentieth-century history from a postcolonial perspective and a transnational understanding of the self seen as the intersection of the many identities produced by the collision of languages and cultures. - Ms. Margaret Atwood (Toronto, Canada) for being a versatile and prolific writer who in her novels has explored both Canadian and transnational issues of the twentieth-century, such as colonization, feminism, structures of political power and oppression, and the violation and exploitation of nature. Future -in the field of Computers and Telecommunications - Prof. Michael Rabin (Harvard University, USA/Hebrew University, Israel) for his major research results, which have had a significant impact on the shape of Computer and Communication Technology today and in the years to come, and in particular for his work on ways to improve privacy and create unbreakable ways to encrypt data, making secrecy, privacy and protection ever more crucial to society. - Prof. Leonard Kleinrock (University of California, LA, USA) for his seminal research contributions in communication networks, establishing the fundamental principles upon which many of the most important aspects of information communications and the Internet are based. - Dr. Gordon Moore, (Woodside, CA, USA) for his remarkable intuition leading him to proclaim Moore's Law, which has become the guiding principle for the semiconductor industry to deliver ever-more-powerful chips while decreasing the cost of electronics, and for his co-founding of the outstanding microprocessor pioneer, Intel.

Press Contact Israeli and Foreign Media: Ms. Orly Fromer Director of Media Relations and Spokesperson Tel Aviv University Tel: +972(0)3-6424020 Fax: +972(0)3-6408355 E-mail: fromer@post.tau.ac.il Tel: +972-3-6406614/5, Fax: +972-3-6406613, Email: ddprize@post.tau.ac.il, Website: http://www.dandavidprize.org

SOURCE: Dan David Prize

CONTACT: Press Contact - Israeli and Foreign Media: Ms. Orly Fromer,Director of Media Relations and Spokesperson, Tel Aviv University, Tel:+972(0)3-6424020, Fax: +972(0)3-6408355, E-mail: fromer@post.tau.ac.il