Since 2006, the American Physical Society awards a biennial Sakharov Prize so named in recognition of courageous and effective work of the Soviet physicist Andrei Sakharov furthering human rights and peaceful coexistence among the nations.
Once every two years, the award, consisting of a diploma and a $10,000 check, is presented at the annual general meeting of the APS. While full of meaning and with an impressive list of past recipients, the APS Sakharov Prize mostly stays out of the limelight. It would be hard to imagine a recipient deciding to bestow his or her diploma onto a political leader, in hope that it would, for example, safeguard their government research funding. But never say never.
This year’s recipient, who will collect his prize at the March general meeting of the APS, is Yoel Fink, an MIT professor and a leading expert in photonics and materials science. Somewhat worryingly, his award is described as: “For defending the academic freedom and human rights of scientists working in the U.S.” Something that for decades had been taken for granted – academic freedom in the U.S. – got eroded to such an extent that defending it takes courage, with a possible detriment to one’s own scientific career or even liberty, as was the case with Andrei Sakharov.
Congratulations, Professor Fink! We stand with you, defending academic freedom as a crucible of a free and democratic society.