Simons Foundation International President David Spergel (standing, right) and ICTP Director Atish Dabholkar (left) hosted a special event in New York City for friends and supporters of ICTP.
On Tuesday 21 October, Simons Foundation International President David Spergel and ICTP Director Atish Dabholkar hosted a special event in New York City for friends and supporters of ICTP to celebrate the international partnership fueling the project to transform the Adriatico Guest House into a state-of-the-art, modern International Science Complex.
Professors Dabholkar and Spergel were joined by many luminaries from the scientific community who expressed their support for ICTP and their ongoing commitment to the international collaborations necessary to forward ICTP's mission. Professor Edward Witten was the first to speak of his longstanding relationship with the Centre and emphasized the importance of its 2025 Strategic Plan, which Prof. Dabholkar outlined for those in attendance. ICTP's new strategic plan can be downloaded here.
Others who spoke of their enduring commitment to the Centre included Saif Rahman, grandson of ICTP founder Abdus Salam, as well as Professors Carl Feinberg, Jagadish Shukla, Juan Maldacena, and Peter Yianilos. ICTP Development Advisory Board Chair Ashvin Chhabra talked about his recent donation to underwrite the entire ICTP Library Project, making him and his wife the first leadership donors to ICTP's new campaign.
The event also featured Michelle Feynman, the daughter of Nobel Laureate Richard Feynman and her son Marco Miralles. Ms. Feynman, along with IBM's Jay Gambetta, were present to announce the launch of the ICTP-IBM Richard Feynman Prize in Quantum Computing, named in honour of quantum mechanics pioneer Richard Feynman. It is intended to be awarded annually at a yearly conference co-sponsored by ICTP and IBM. Ms. Feynman informed those in attendance that the evening was especially meaningful as October 21 was the 60th anniversary of when her father learned he would be awarded the Nobel Prize in 1965.
Following the presentation of the strategic plan, Prof. Dabholkar was joined again by Prof. Spergel, along with Marco Gilli, President of Fondazione Compagna di San Paolo (FCSP), to announce the three-way international partnership between ICTP, Simons and FCSP on the International Science Complex initiative, which is the impetus for the launch of ICTP's €60M fundraising campaign.
(from left) ICTP DIrector Atish Dabholkar; Marilyn Simons, Chair of the Board of Simons Foundation International; Simons Foundation International President David Spergel; and Marco Gilli, President of Fondazione Compagna di San Paolo.
The evening concluded with a toast by Marilyn Simons, Chair of the Board of Simons Foundation International, whose relationship with ICTP began a decade ago when she and her late husband, Jim Simons, visited Trieste and ICTP for the first time. Mrs. Simons toasted the partnership and the strategic vision of ICTP, stating "A toast to ICTP - may it have terrific success with this project and for decades - and centuries - to come."
Among those in attendance were current and former members of ICTP's Scientific Council (current member Mercedes Pascual and past members Subir Sachdev, Ingrid Daubechies, William Bialek, and Juan Maldacena ), several members of the Development Advisory Board (Ashvin B. Chhabra, Michael Douglas, Robbert Djikgraaf, Usha Pasi), representatives from IBM, Quantinuum, the Embassy Counsellor Daniela Tonon for the Permanent Mission of Italy to the United Nations in New York, the 2025 Spirit of Salam awardee Qaisar Shafi, along with his wife Monika (supporters of ICTP's Shafi Prize for best diploma students), and Adnan Shihab-Eldin, the first ever donor to ICTP and its endowment fund.
Stay tuned for an exciting announcement about an extraordinary opportunity for the entire ICTP alumni community to come together in support of the new International Science Complex, thanks to a challenge grant from Prof. Jagadish Shukla.
If you are interested in learning more about supporting ICTP, please contact us at advancement@ictp.it.
To support ICTP, click here. To learn about tax-deductible giving in the United States, please click here to request more information.
