Starting in 2022, the Dan David Prize will award $3 million annually to early- and mid-career scholars and practitioners who study the human past

TEL AVIV, Israel, Sept. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dan David Prize is relaunching as an award that supports history and the study of the past, the Board of the Prize announced. Beginning in May 2022, the Prize will award up to nine $300,000 prizes each year to early- and mid-career scholars and practitioners around the world to recognize outstanding achievements in the study of the human past and to support the winners' future endeavors. As a result, the Dan David Prize is now the largest history prize in the world.

First established in 2001 by the late entrepreneur and philanthropist Dan David to recognize achievements in the sciences and the humanities, the Prize will now champion a spectrum of emerging and more established scholars of the past, active within and beyond the academy.

"We are proud of the work we have done over the past two decades, recognizing major breakthroughs in the sciences and the humanities," said Ariel David, board member of the Dan David Foundation and son of the Prize founder. "But we live in a world in which investment in the humanities, particularly in the historical disciplines, is declining, even though we know how important studying the past is for understanding the present and building the future. For these reasons we have decided to focus our resources on this field and help catalyze the next generation of scholars."

The Dan David Prize is endowed by the Dan David Foundation and headquartered at Tel Aviv University. 

"The preservation, study, and communication of our history has always been a central part of human culture," said Yo-Yo Ma, cellist and 2006 Dan David Prize Laureate. "I hope the Dan David Prize's new path will be a launchpad for the next generation of historians and active citizens, who will help redefine the field in the 21st century and allow us to better understand our shared humanity."

Nominations for the new Prize are now being accepted until November 1, 2021.

The Dan David Prize is the largest history prize in the world, endowed by the Dan David Foundation and headquartered at Tel Aviv University.

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