The Shaw Prize Foundation in Hong Kong has announced the winners of the 2007 Shaw Prize, an international prize competition that honors individuals for outstanding achievement in three categories — astronomy, life science and medicine, and the mathematical sciences. Each prize is accompanied by a cash award of $1 million.

In the life sciences and medicine category, Robert Lefkowitz, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and the James B. Duke professor of medicine at the Duke University Medical Center, was honored for his elucidation of the major receptor system that mediates the response of cells and organs to drugs and hormones. Astronomer Peter Goldreich, a professor at the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University and the Lee A. DuBridge professor of astrophysics and planetary physics at the California Institute of Technology, was recognized for his lifetime achievements in theoretical astrophysics and planetary sciences. And in the mathematical sciences category, Professor Robert Langlands of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, and Professor Richard Taylor of Harvard University were awarded equal shares for initiating and developing a unifying vision of mathematics that connects prime numbers with symmetry.

"The advancement of society and the prosperity of civilizations can be attributed to the contribution of great talents of past and present," said Shaw Prize council member Ma Lin. "Their achievements enable us to enjoy the advantages of modern civilization. These pioneers are honored through the generations. Those who follow in their steps should also be commended."