The prestigious Wolf Prizes aim to promote science and art for the benefit of mankind. They are also seen as an indication of future Nobel laureates.
The Israel-based Wolf Foundation was established in 1976 by Dr. Ricardo Wolf, a Jew born in Germany who became an inventor, diplomat and philanthropist. Two years later, the first Wolf Prizes were awarded, "for achievements in the interest of mankind and friendly relations among people irrespective of nationality, race, color, religion, sex or political view."

Five prizes - of $100,000 each - are awarded each year, four in scientific fields and one in a field of the arts. The science prizes rotate among the fields of agriculture, chemistry, mathematics, medicine and physics, and the arts prize is awarded in architecture, music, painting or sculpture. An international selection committee, under the chairmanship of the Minister of Education, chooses the winners. To date, a total of 194 scientists and artists from 19 countries have been honored with Wolf Prizes. The Wolf Foundation has a remarkable ability to select outstanding winners: to date some twenty past recipients have subsequently been awarded the Nobel Prize in their field. In fact, having won a Nobel Prize is the only attribute that disqualifies a scientist or artist from being awarded the Wolf Prize. Over the years, Wolf Prize laureates have included America's Carl Djerassi (Medicine); France's Marc Chagall (Painting); Britain's Dr. Stephen Hawking (Physics); Israel Philharmonic Orchestra musical director Zubin Mehta (Music); and Egypt's Ahmed Zewail (Chemistry), who later won the Nobel Prize for his work on laser chemistry.
The ceremony takes place at the Chagall Hall of the Knesset building, in Jerusalem, with the participation of the Speaker of the Knesset, the Minister of Education, Culture and Sport, who is the Chairman of the Council of the Wolf Foundation, Trustees, and members of the Council. The diploma and honorarium are presented to the recipients by H.E. the President of the State of Israel, in the fields of Sciences according to the Hebrew alphabetical order, and in Arts. One Laureate in every field is invited to deliver a short acceptance speech. The Ceremony is conducted in Hebrew, with simultaneous translation into English.
The prizes are awarded by the President of Israel at his residence in Jerusalem each May. "In order to receive the prize, the winner must attend the ceremony in Jerusalem," explains Yaron Gruder, Director General of the Wolf Foundation. "However, some rare exceptions have been made."
Gruder recounts that Izrail Gelfand, a Russian mathematician who was awarded the Wolf Prize in 1978 for his work on functional analysis and group representation, was prohibited by the Soviet government from attending the prize-giving ceremony in Jerusalem. "It was a very moving occasion when, ten years later - during Glasnost - Gelfand was finally able to come to Jerusalem and receive his prize in person," recollects Gruder.
Another exception was made for Yasutomi Nishizuka. Several days before he was due to receive the 1994 medicine prize for his work on cellular trans-membrane signaling, a devastating earthquake struck his native Kobe in Japan. "He apologized and explained that he could not leave home at such a difficult time," says Gruder. "Of course we understood, and the prize was presented to him by the Ambassador of Israel to Japan. Mr. Yasutomi donated the prize money to victims of the earthquake."
Many other laureates have generously donated their prize money to worthy causes. The German painter Anselm Kiefer, who won the arts prize in 1990, immediately returned his check so that a scholarship fund could be set up for young Israeli artists.

Nominations should be received not later than August 31 in order to be reviewed for the forthcoming prize. Proposals received after this date shall be only considered in the following year.

2001 architettura : a ALVARO SIZA, Porto, Portugal, for the critical relevance of his typically responsive architecture to the continual transformation of both landscape and urban fabric.
1996/1997 architettura : a FREI OTTO, Leonberg, Germany, and ALDO van EYCK, Amsterdam, Holland, for their fundamental structural contributions to the advancement of contemporary architecture as a social and technical art form in the evolution of the Twentieth Century.
1992 architettura : FRANK O. GEHRY, Santa Monica, CA., U.S.A. Creating architecture as art and sculpture, he embodies the fight for liberation destroying dogma, principle and method; JORN UTZON, Aalsgaarde, Denmark. His architecture, rooted in deep reading of human cultures, has given shape to processes of ritual and assembly in forms of haunting presence; and Sir DENYS LASDUN, London, U. K., With architecture as a social art, he enhances the relations between people through primary architectural means that far transcend style.
1988 architettura : FUMIHIKO MAKI, University of Tokyo, Japan; and GIANCARLO DE CARLO, Institute of Architecture, Venice, Italy, for their work which represents the spirit of an architecture that looks to the future without renouncing the past; brings about meaningful shapes and environments without forsaking human and social aspects and responds to universal issues without neglecting regional attributes.
1983/1984 architettura : RALPH ERSKINE, Drottningholm, Sweden, for his fundamental contribution to contemporary architecture, based on his creative spirit, solving human problems in a highly original formal language.