The Rolex Awards for Enterprise is an award from Rolex since 1976 to support exceptional individuals who take on major challenges, and projects to improve the world. Each winner receives 100,000 Swiss francs (about $104,000). In 2010, the Rolex Awards introduced a programme for Young Laureates. Its goal was to foster innovation in the next generation by selecting five young enterprising individuals and providing them with funding and publicity for their projects. Each Young Laureate receives 50,000 Swiss francs (about $52,000).
Recipients
1978 Luc Jean-François Debecker, France. Explore prehistoric lifestyles and beliefs through the study of European cave paintings. Billy Lee Lasley, United States. Facilitate the breeding of endangered birds by developing a non-invasive method to identify their sex. Kenneth Lee Marten, Ethiopia. Save the Abyssinian wolf in Ethiopia by developing a conservation programme. Francine Patterson, United States. Test the ability of gorillas to learn and use human sign language.
1981 Rodney M. Jackson, Nepal. Protect the endangered Himalayan snow leopard through radio-tracking and study. Eduardo Llerenas, Mexico. Trace and record Mexico’s traditional folk music to preserve the country’s rich musical heritage. Delia Owens and Mark Owens
1984 Martine Fettweis-Viénot, Guatemala. Create the first complete catalogue of Mayan wall paintings to study their role in Mayan society. Kenneth W. Hankinson, Antarctica. Undertake the first over-winter stay in tents in Antarctica’s Brabant Island and make pioneering studies. Donald R. Perry, Costa Rica. Design an ‘aerial tram’ with a system of ropes and pulleys to open the tropical forest canopy to observation. Thean Soo Tee, Malaysia. Help prevent soil erosion and create a new cash crop by introducing asparagus to his country. Michel Terrasse, France. Reintroduce vultures to the Cévennes region of France to ensure their survival.
1987 Jacques Luc Autran, Maldives. Bring medical and technical aid by ship to isolated communities on the islands of the Indian Ocean. Stephen W. Kress, United States. Develop new techniques for the successful conservation of endangered seabirds. Pierre Morvan, Nepal. Study ground beetles to improve understanding of what triggers evolutionary change. Nancy L. Nash, China. Broaden the understanding of conservation by researching and applying Buddhist precepts on nature. Johan Gjefsen Reinhard, Peru. Preserve the patrimony of the Andean people through high-altitude cultural anthropology and archaeology.
1990 John F. Asmus, China. Pioneering use of lasers in art preservation. Suryo Wardhoyo Prawiroatmodjo, Indonesia. Establish Indonesia’s first environmental education centre and pioneer an innovative model for this field. Les Stocker, United Kingdom. Create Europe’s first-ever wildlife teaching hospital in England to care for injured wild animals. Anita Studer, Brazil. Develop a long-term reforestation and environmental education programme.
1993 Nancy M. Abeiderrahmane-Jones, Mauritania. Develop the world’s first industrial production of camel cheese. Antonio De Vivo, Mexico. Explore the underground rivers and caves of the Rio La Venta Canyon in southern Mexico. Steven Lurie Garrett, United States. Develop a sound-powered, CFC-free refrigerator to help reduce depletion of the ozone layer. Aldo Lo Curto, Brazil. Produce a practical, illustrated health education manual for the Indians of the Brazilian Amazon. Forrest Marion Mims III, United States. Design and develop a device that monitors ultraviolet radiation and ozone levels.
1996
Laureates Gilbert A. Clark, United States. Enable students worldwide to access a network of professional telescopes and operate them by remote control. Sanoussi Diakité, Senegal. Invent a fonio-husking machine to revive cultivation of this healthy, inexpensive cereal in Africa. Royce O. Hall, Tanzania. Build an eye hospital in Tanzania and bring state-of-the-art surgery procedures to the African countryside. Georgina Herrmann, Turkmenistan. Explore the Silk Road caravan city of Merv. William Rosenblatt, United States. Transfer unused medical supplies to the developing world.
Associate Laureates Sabine Cotte, Bhutan. Produce a manual of simple conservation techniques for the monks at Bhutan’s fortified monasteries. Eric Gilli, France. Study traces of ancient earthquakes in caves to develop a new methodology for predicting earthquakes. Gorur R. Iyengar Gopinath, India. Expand ecological silk-farming in India to preserve the environment and improve living standards. Hans Hendrikse, South Africa. Produce a low-cost rolling water drum to allow efficient and easy water transport in developing countries. Norberto Luis Jácome, Argentina. Pioneer efforts to protect the Andean condor – store reproductive material of endangered species in a genetic bank. Nabil M. Lawandy, United States. Develop an inexpensive photodynamic treatment for certain forms of cancer. Mario Robles del Moral, Spain. Establish a national reforestation programme in Spain in light of a major soil-erosion problem. Jun’Ichi Shinozaki, Japan. Research the environment in the mountains of the Pacific Rim to determine pollution levels. George van Driem, Nepal. Record the disappearing languages of the Himalayan region. Frithjof Voss, China. Use satellites to control locust swarms in Africa.
1998
Laureates Cristina Bubba Zamora, Bolivia. Recover stolen Bolivian ceremonial weavings and return them to their original Andean communities. Wijaya Godakumbura, Sri Lanka. Replace makeshift kerosene-oil bottle lamps with safe lamps to prevent severe burns. Rafael Guarga, Uruguay. Protect crops from frost with an innovative, inexpensive cold-extracting chimney. Louis Liebenberg, South Africa. Develop a hand-held computer that modernizes ancient tracking skills and improves wildlife management. Jean-François Pernette, Argentina and Chile. Explore and map the Earth’s southernmost underground caves on remote islands of Patagonia. Amanda Vincent, Philippines. Protect seahorses in the Philippines and develop an alternative livelihood for fishing communities.
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