Harvard tops Tang Prize academic links; 7 laureates later win Nobels

Taipei, July 30 (CNA) Harvard University has academic or professional ties to more Tang Prize laureates than any other institution, and seven recipients of the biennial Taiwan-based award have subsequently gone on to be Nobel laureates, the Tang Prize Foundation said Tuesday.

In a news release, the foundation said the Tang Prize, which spans four categories -- Sustainable Development, Biopharmaceutical Science, Sinology and Rule of Law -- has recognized 45 laureates since its establishment in 2012, including three nongovernmental organizations.

An analysis conducted after the announcement of the 2026 laureates in mid-June found that 11 had academic or professional ties to Harvard, accounting for about 26 percent of the 42 individual laureates, the foundation said.

Yale University, Columbia University and the University of California, Berkeley were each linked to five laureates. Oxford University and the University of California, San Diego each had ties to four.

The analysis also found that 11 of the prize's 42 individual laureates, or about 26 percent, were women. The foundation said the figure was "significantly higher" than the 6.5 percent recorded among Nobel laureates.

The comparison partly reflects the historical context of the Nobel Prizes, which were first awarded in 1901, when women had far fewer opportunities to participate in academia and scientific research.

Meanwhile, six Biopharmaceutical Science laureates from three Tang Prize cohorts later received Nobel Prizes.

They were joined by Omar Yaghi, a recipient of the 2024 Tang Prize in Sustainable Development, who won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, bringing the total number of Tang Prize laureates who later became Nobel laureates to seven.

The Tang Prize was established in 2012 by the late Taiwanese entrepreneur Samuel Yin (尹衍樑) to honor individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions in the four categories. Each category carries a cash award of NT$40 million (US$1.23 million), along with an additional NT$10 million in research funding.