IUCr 1999 Triennial Report - Ewald Prize

The establishment of the Ewald Prize, for outstanding contributions to the science of crystallography, was announced in February 1986 and was given wide publicity. The name of the Prize was chosen with the kind consent of the late Paul Peter Ewald, to recognise Professor Ewald's significant contributions to the foundations of crystallography and to the founding of the International Union of Crystallography, especially his services as the President of the Provisional International Crystallographic Committee from 1946 to 1948, as the first Editor of the IUCr's publication Acta Crystallographica from 1948 to 1959, and as the President of the IUCr from 1960 to 1963.

Shortly after the death of Professor Ewald, his family informed the President that Professor Ewald had wished to make a bequest to the IUCr. After consulting Mrs Ewald, this generous bequest, together with a donation from the Ewald family and a donation from the IUCr, was used as starting capital for the Ewald Prize. The interest from this capital and further donations from the IUCr are used to finance the Prize.

The Prize consists of a medal, a certificate and an award of US $30,000. It is presented once every three years during the triennial International Congresses of Crystallography. The first Prize was presented during the Perth Congress, being awarded jointly to Professor J.M. Cowley and Dr A.F. Moodie. The second Prize was presented during the Bordeaux Congress to Professor B.K. Vainshtein. The third Prize was presented during the Beijing Congress to Professor N. Kato. The fourth Prize was presented during the Seattle Congress to Professor

M.G. Rossmann.

In May 1999 it was announced that the fifth Ewald Prize had been awarded to

for his outstanding contributions to the field of crystallography: in the area of anomalous scattering and its use in the solution of the phase problem, in the analysis of the structure of fibres, collagen in particular, and, foremost, for his fundamental works on the macromolecular conformation and the validation of macromolecular structures by means of the 'Ramachandran plot', which even today remains the most useful validation tool.

The presentation of the Ewald Prize will be made during the Congress Opening Ceremony.

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