The Shaw Prize Foundation announced the laureates for its 2009 Shaw Prize at a press conference in Hong Kong on June 16. Academia Sinica Academician and former NTHU President Frank H. Shu won the prize in astronomy for his outstanding achievements in theoretical astronomy as well as for his significant contributions to humanity. This is the second major international prize that Prof. Shu has received since this May when he was presented with the Catherine Wolfe Bruce Gold Medal, the highest honor presented by the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.

Since the dawn of time, human curiosity has been drawn to the twinkling lights in the sky. Our fascination with stars is not limited to what they are and their role in the grand order of nature alone, but extends into their origin and the implications for the roots of our very own existence. Although the recent astronomical research reveals that the energy content of the universe is mostly locked up in dark matter, stars remain the basic building blocks of galaxies, the predominant beacons of visible light from remote corners, and the source of complex nuclei which are the essential ingredients of life and life sustaining planets.

Prof. Shu is known internationally as a leading astrophysicist with major contributions in spiral structures in galaxies and star formation theories. At the age of 21, he published the "density-wave theory" with his advisor Professor C. C. Lin. It was one of the most important astrophysics theories in the last forty years. He is the author of several books, among them Physical Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy has become one of the standard textbooks for undergraduate physics and astronomy courses at major universities in the U.S. He was also the first to propose that a comet contains rocks that had undergone high temperature composition. Although the theory contradicted other popular theories of the time, it was proved later on. Most recently, he showed that the solar system originated from planet relics. This theoretical prediction was recently vindicated by fragments of Comet Wild 2 collected and brought back by NASA.

The Shaw Prize was established under the auspices of Mr. Run-Run Shaw in 2002 to honor individuals who have made significant contributions in academic and the scientific circle. Known as the "Noble Prize of the East in the 21^st Century," the Shaw Prize is presented annually in three categories: astronomy, life sciences and medicine, and mathematical sciences. Each prize carries a medal, a certificate and a monetary award of US$1 million. This marks the sixth year of the Prize with the formal award ceremony to take place on October 7.