Professor Shuji Nakamura to receive the 2019 Leigh Ann Conn Prize for Renewable Energy
Massive Impact
Professor Shuji Nakamura has been selected to receive the 2019 Leigh Ann Conn Prize for Renewable Energy. The biennial award, bestowed by the University of Louisville (UofL), is meant to to “acknowledge, publicize and disseminate outstanding ideas and achievements in research related to the sciences, engineering, technology and commercialization of renewable energy.”
“It is my great honor to receive the Leigh Ann Conn Prize,” said Nakamura, UC Santa Barbara’s CREE Distinguished Professor of Materials, and a recipient of other honors including the Millennium Technology Prize, membership in the National Inventors Hall of Fame, the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Inventors. “Global warming is becoming a big issue; I hope that LED and laser lighting contribute to a bright future for human kind by reducing energy consumption.”
“The impact of Dr. Nakamura’s work is massive, and exactly what Leigh Ann thought mattered most: What good is innovation if it never changes the world?” said Hank Conn, UofL alumnus and father of Leigh Ann Conn. “LED lighting touches people in all economic strata, saving energy and money with global reach. It is exciting to recognize this outstanding scientist, his innovations, and their translation into clearly impactful technology.”
Nakamura will officially receive the Leigh Ann Conn Prize for Renewable Energy — a medal and a $50,000 award — and deliver a public lecture at a formal ceremony in March 2020.
Additional link: https://www.leighannconnprize.org/laureate2019
