Arab Creativity Award 2011 winners announced

The Advisory Board of the Arab Thought Foundation, in a joint meeting with the Committee of the juries for the Arab Creativity Awards, in its fifth session held on November 19th, 2011, under the chairmanship of His Royal Highness Prince Khalid Al Faisal, President of the Foundation, declared the winners of the Arab Creativity Awards for this year:

Scientific Creativity Award (Research in water and energy)

Awarded jointly to Professor Dr. Anwar Munir Batikhi from Jordan (Professor of Water, Soil and Plant Physiology at Jordan University and University of Science and Technology) and Prof. Dr. Youssef Salama al-Najjar from Jordan (Professor of Energy at the University of Science and Technology) for their contributions in scientific publishing and local development projects in water and energy fields; they published over 100 scientific articles in regional and international journals.

Technical Creativity Award

Awarded to Professor Dr. Yusuf Saad Al-Hayek from Jordan (Professor of Mechanical Engineering at UAE University) for his contribution to theoretical and practical scientific research in biotechnology and its applications in public health and medicine, supported by eight patents worldwide.

Social Creativity Award

Awarded to the Lebanese writer Joureye Talaat Fawaz for her field study under the theme, ‘The Effect of War: its psychological and educational effects on children,’ as it represented a new theme, and was based on a field study of children and the impact of the Lebanese war in 2006 on them.

Literary Creativity Award (in the field of children’s literature)

Awarded to Mr. Hassan Abdullah from Lebanon for his long experience spanning over thirty years. Over the years, he devoted most of his work and productions to children with stories, short poems and songs inspired by Arab heritage and values.

Artistic Creativity Award (in the field of theater)

Awarded to Professor Jawad al-Asadi of Iraq, a theater director with extensive experience in Arab theatre, focusing on topics such as violence and strife. He seeks to provide a different experience of theatre derived from his personal experience and the suffering endured by the Iraqi people.

The Advisory Board decided to institute awards for Economic and media creativity awards this year. It was also decided to withhold the award for the Most Important Arabic Book Award because of limited number of entries.

Each Arab Creativity Award is US$50,000. The winners also receive an honorary shield. The Awards will be distributed at the closing ceremony of the Annual General Conference of the Foundation in Dubai on December 7th in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Khalid Al Faisal, President of the Foundation.