The George Gamow® Award honors members of the Russian-speaking scientific diaspora for outstanding achievements recognized by the wider scientific community.
Photo from the personal archive
Professor of Applied Mathematics, University of Cambridge
For groundbreaking contributions to quantum hydrodynamics and physics-inspired computing, connecting fundamental theory with experimental and practical application.
Photo from the personal archive
Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor Emeritus of Cultural Theory and Russian Literature, Emory University
For pioneering contributions to the study of Russian postmodernism and conceptualism, and for his advocacy of the humanities as a creative, forward-looking force.
The award ceremony will take place on November 7–8, 2026, at Northwestern University in Chicago, as part of the 17th annual conference of the Russian-American Science Association (RASA), honoring Andrei Sakharov.
The award is named after George Gamow, an outstanding Soviet and American physicist and popularizer of science, who made a pioneering contribution to the creation of the theory of alpha decay, the "hot Universe" model, and the application of nuclear physics to the problems of stellar evolution. He also made a significant contribution to biology, being the first to formulate the problem of the genetic code. Gamow was a corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences and a member of the US National Academy of Sciences.
George Gamow was recognized by UNESCO with the Kalinga Prize in 1956, "For his outstanding contribution to the popularization of science," for his popular-science Mr. Tompkins series of children's books, which explained advanced science to new generations and brought many Americans into the scientific field.