The Chian Federation will present the 36th Annual Homeric Award to Professor Nicholas Negroponte, Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Media Lab, which he directed for its first 20 years; and Founder of the “One Laptop per Child” non-profit association. This year’s Homeric Award is dedicated to education, research and innovation. The award ceremony will take place on Sunday, December 6, 2015 at 5:00 p.m. at the Hellenic American Cultural Center of the Chian Federation, 44-01 Broadway, Astoria, New York.
A graduate of MIT, Negroponte ιs a pioneer in the field of computer-aided design and has been a member of the MIT faculty since 1966. He gave the first TED talk in 1984, as well as 13 since. He is author of the 1995 best seller, Being Digital, which has been translated into more than 40 languages. In 2005 he founded the non-profit “One Laptop per Child, which deployed $1 billion of laptops for primary education in the developing world. “
The Homeric Award was established thirty-six years ago and is presented annually to distinguished individuals, advocates of human rights, democratic ideals and persons who have excelled in furthering human knowledge. For years, the Homeric Award has been considered one of the most prestigious awards presented by the Greek-American community. From its humble beginnings in 1977, when the late Congressman Benjamin Rosenthal was honored for his contributions to find a just solution to the Cyprus issue, the Homeric Award has been bestowed to a distinguished roster of individuals including the former President of the United States Jimmy Carter, the late President of Greece Constantine Karamanlis, the former Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church Archbishop Iakovos, the late Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill, Senators Paul Sarbanes, Edward Kennedy, Olympia Snowe, Bill Bradley, Charles Schumer, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Congressmen Michael Bilirakis, Benjamin Gilman, Gary Ackerman, Bob Menendez, the President of the Council of Greeks Abroad, Andrew A. Athens, distinguished scientist Dr. Stamatios M. Krimigis, Head Emeritus of the Space Department at the Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University and many others.
