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"We aim to realize a nation founded on the creativity of science and technology. I hope that many young scientists will follow your suit. The news of your being awarded the Nobel Prize has made us happy and proud. Professor Shirakawa, I sincerely offer my heartfelt congratulations." On 18 October 2000, Prime Minister Mori received at the Kantei (Official Residence of the Prime Minister) Dr. Hideki Shirakawa, Professor Emeritus of the University of Tsukuba, to whom the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences had decided to award the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2000, and talked with the Laureate for half an hour. Referring to a news report which stated that Professor Shirakawa, as a schoolboy, had not been good at some subjects, Prime Minister Mori said: "I have to thank Professor Shirakawa for vindicating my view that a student does not necessarily have to be good at all subjects. If that student excels in one area, his or her education is a success." Professor Shirakawa remarked on the decision of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences that the potential of his work for the advancement of the IT revolution must have weighed in his favor. The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2000 is awarded jointly to Professor Shirakawa and two American scientists, Professor Alan J. Heeger of the University of California at Santa Barbara and Professor Alan G. MacDiarmid of the University of Pennsylvania, "for the discovery and development of conductive polymers." |
