Franklin Awards Honor Kavli And Nicolaou

Fred Kavli, chairman and founder of The Kavli Foundation and founder of Kavlico, and K. C. Nicolaou, chair of the chemistry department at Scripps Research Institute, are among eight winners of the 2011 Franklin Institute Awards, which recognize outstanding achievements that have enhanced the quality of human life.

Kavli was awarded the 2011 Bower Award for Business Leadership. Kavli is an internationally renowned physicist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. His foundation has supported basic scientific research through the establishment of three $1 million prizes awarded every two years. The foundation has also established research institutes at leading universities worldwide and sponsored science symposia and workshops, including a lecture series at the American Chemical Society national meetings.

Nicolaou received the 2011 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Chemistry. He was cited for his achievements in synthetic organic chemistry, such as the total synthesis of the anticancer drugs Taxol and calicheamicin, the immunosuppressant rapamycin, and the antibiotic vancomycin.