Fred Kavli
Encyclopedia
Fred Kavli is a Norwegian and naturalized American physicist, business leader, inventor, and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...

. He was born in the village of Eresfjord, Nesset
Nesset
Nesset is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway on the Romsdal Peninsula. The administrative centre is the village of Eidsvåg. Other population centers include Rausand, Boggestranda, Myklebostad, Eresfjord, and Eikesdalen....

 municipality in Møre og Romsdal
Møre og Romsdal
is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Sør-Trøndelag, Oppland and Sogn og Fjordane. The county administration is located in Molde, while Ålesund is the largest city.-The name:...

 county, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. Today Kavli lives in the city of Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. He established The Kavli Foundation
The Kavli Foundation
The Kavli Foundation, based in Oxnard, California, is a foundation that supports the advancement of science and the increase of public understanding and support for scientists and their work....

 in the year 2000 to support basic scientific research. He has only recently appeared in the mainstream media for his work, primarily his philanthropic efforts. He is divorced and has two grown children. An avid art collector, Kavli has gathered a large collection of Norwegian oil paintings.

Kavli's life

Kavli grew up on the family farm in the tiny Norwegian village of Eresfjord (pop. 450).

At 14, together with his brother Aslak, he began his first enterprise creating wood pellet fuel for cars. This was during the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and the Nazi occupation of Norway
Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany
The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany started with the German invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940, and ended on May 8, 1945, after the capitulation of German forces in Europe. Throughout this period, Norway was continuously occupied by the Wehrmacht...

.

Inspired by his father's 13 years in San Francisco the young Kavli wanted to move to the US. Three days after he received his engineering physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...

 degree from the Norwegian Institute of Technology
Norwegian Institute of Technology
The Norwegian Institute of Technology, known by its Norwegian abbrevation NTH was a science institute in Trondheim, Norway. It was established in 1910, and existed as an independent technical university for 85 years, after which it was merged into the University of Trondheim as an independent...

 (NTH) in Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...

 he left for America on the SS Stavangerfjord.

Having no job or sponsor waiting for him, his visa application was initially rejected, and so in 1955 he immigrated to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 instead. The following year his visa was approved and he moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. He found work as an engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...

 for a Los Angeles business that developed feedback flight controls for Atlas missiles
Atlas (missile)
The SM-65 Atlas was the first intercontinental ballistic missile developed and deployed by the United States. It was built for the U.S. Air Force by Convair Division of General Dynamics at the Kearny Mesa assembly plant north of San Diego, California...

. He would rise to the position of Chief Engineer here.

Looking to start his own business he advertised in the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

 newspaper soliciting financial backers with the simple but effective text "Engineer seeking financial backing to start own business".

Two years later he had founded the Kavlico Corporation, located in Moorpark
Moorpark, California
Moorpark is a city in Southern California. It was founded in 1900 by Robert Poindexter, presumably named after the moorpark apricots that grew in the area. The city has experienced a great amount of growth since the late 1970s...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. Under his leadership, the company became one of the world's largest suppliers of sensor
Sensor
A sensor is a device that measures a physical quantity and converts it into a signal which can be read by an observer or by an instrument. For example, a mercury-in-glass thermometer converts the measured temperature into expansion and contraction of a liquid which can be read on a calibrated...

s for aeronautic, automotive, and industrial applications supplying amongst others General Electric and the Ford Motor Company. In 2000 he sold Kavlico for $345 million to C-Mac Industries Inc. Kavlico is today owned by the French company Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric
Schneider Electric is a French global company. It was founded in 1836 by two brothers, Eugène and Adolphe Schneider.In the first part of the 20th century, Schneider et Cie associated itself with Westinghouse Systems, a major international electrical group at the time. The group began manufacturing...

. Much of Kavli's wealth is a result of his real estate investments in Southern California. As a philanthropist, Kavli subsequently established The Kavli Foundation and has dedicated much of his wealth to funding research institutions and programs worldwide.

On June 19, 2006, he was appointed Grand Officer, Commander with Star, of the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit
The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav
The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav is a Norwegian order of chivalry that was instituted by King Oscar I of Norway and Sweden on August 21, 1847, as a distinctly Norwegian order. It is named after King Olav II, known for posterity as St. Olav. Nobility was abolished in Norway in 1821...

 by King Harald V of Norway
Harald V of Norway
Harald V is the king of Norway. He succeeded to the throne of Norway upon the death of his father Olav V on 17 January 1991...

  in recognition of his work on behalf of Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 and humanity. In 2008, he was also awarded an honorary doctorate, Doctor Honoris Causa, by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, in recognition of his work to the benefit and advancement of science and research. Kavli is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also a former member of the U.S. President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and former member of the University of California President’s Board on Science and Innovation. In 2009, Mr. Kavli received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Northwestern University. In 2011 he received the Bower Award for Business Leadership from the Franklin Institute, one of the oldest science education centers in the United States, and the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy, which is given every biennially to one or more individuals who, like Andrew Carnegie, have dedicated their private wealth to public good, and who have sustained impressive careers as philanthropists. In 2011, Mr. Kavli was also conferred the degree of doctor philosopliae honoris causa by the University of Oslo.

A Trustee of the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) Foundation, in addition to supporting scientific research and education, his philanthropic activities include the Fred Kavli Theatre for Performing Arts at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, California, as well as other projects.

Kavli Prizes

Through The Kavli Foundation
The Kavli Foundation
The Kavli Foundation, based in Oxnard, California, is a foundation that supports the advancement of science and the increase of public understanding and support for scientists and their work....

, Kavli established scientific prizes in the fields of Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties of celestial objects, as well as their interactions and behavior...

, Nanoscience, and Neuroscience
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. Traditionally, neuroscience has been seen as a branch of biology. However, it is currently an interdisciplinary science that collaborates with other fields such as chemistry, computer science, engineering, linguistics, mathematics,...

. The Kavli Prizes are presented in cooperation with the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway.-History:The University of Oslo was established in 1811. The idea of a learned society in Christiania surfaced for the first time in 1841. The city of Throndhjem had no university, but had a learned...

 and the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, and have been awarded biennially at a ceremony in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

 since 2008. Each prize consists of a scroll, gold medal, and $1,000,000 cash.

Kavli chose to focus on these three areas of interest – "from the biggest, to the smallest, to the most complex" – because he thinks these fields are the most exciting scientific fields for the 21st century with potentially great benefits. Kavli has also noted his intent that the Prizes distinguish themselves from the Nobel
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...

 prizes in science. Consequently, one key distinction between the prizes: Kavli Prize laureates are selected by committees composed of distinguished international scientists. These committee members are recommended by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the French Academy of Sciences, the Max Planck Society, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and The Royal Society, with committee chairs chosen by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.

The first Kavli Prize winners were announced on May 28, 2008, simultaneously in Oslo and at the opening of the World Science Festival
World Science Festival
The World Science Festival is a science festival held in New York City that is held annually in the summer. The 2008 inaugural festival was held May 28 – June 1 and consisted mainly of panel discussions and on-stage conversations, accompanied by multimedia presentations.The festival was the...

 in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. The first Kavli Prize for astrophysics was awarded to Maarten Schmidt
Maarten Schmidt
Maarten Schmidt is a Dutch astronomer who measured the distances of quasars.Born in Groningen, The Netherlands, Schmidt studied with Jan Hendrik Oort. He earned his Ph.D. degree from Leiden Observatory in 1956....

 and Donald Lynden-Bell
Donald Lynden-Bell
Donald Lynden-Bell CBE FRS is an English astrophysicist, best known for his theories that galaxies contain massive black holes at their centre, and that such black holes are the principal source of energy in quasars. He was a co-recipient, with Maarten Schmidt, of the inaugural Kavli Prize for...

. Louis E. Brus
Louis E. Brus
Louis E. Brus is a professor of chemistry at Columbia University. He is the discoverer of the colloidal semi-conductor nanocrystals known as quantum dots. He is co-recipient of the 2006 R. W. Wood prize of the Optical Society of America and of the inaugural Kavli Prize for nanoscience in 2008...

 and Sumio Iijima
Sumio Iijima
Sumio Iijima is a Japanese physicist, often cited as the discoverer of carbon nanotubes. Although carbon nanotubes had been observed prior to his "discovery", Iijima's 1991 paper generated unprecedented interest in the carbon nanostructures and has since fueled intense research in the area of...

 shared the nanoscience prize, while Pasko Rakic, Thomas Jessell
Thomas Jessell
Thomas Jessell is a professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics at Columbia University in New York City. He is known for his work on chemical signals that play a role when nerve cells assemble to form neuronal circuits. In 1994 Jessell was awarded the NAS Award for Scientific Reviewing from...

 and Sten Grillner
Sten Grillner
Sten Grillner, born 1941, is a professor at the Karolinska Institute's Nobel Institute for Neurophysiology in Stockholm. His research is focused on understanding the cellular bases of motor behaviour; in particular, he has shown how neuronal circuits in the spine help control rhythmic movements,...

 were awarded the neuroscience prize. The four US winners of the Kavli Prize were honored by President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 and Science Advisor, Dr. John Marburger
John Marburger
John Harmen Marburger, III was an American physicist who directed the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the administration of President George W. Bush, thus serving as the Science Advisor to the President...

, at an Oval Office
Oval Office
The Oval Office, located in the West Wing of the White House, is the official office of the President of the United States.The room features three large south-facing windows behind the president's desk, and a fireplace at the north end...

 reception in the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

 on November 12, 2008. (See Kavli Prize
Kavli Prize
The Kavli Prize was established in 2005 through a joint venture between the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research, and The Kavli Foundation...

 for laureates in subsequent years.)

The Kavli Foundation

The Kavli Foundation, based in Oxnard, California, is dedicated to the goals of advancing science for the benefit of humanity and promoting increased public understanding and support for scientists and their work.

The Foundation's mission is implemented through an international program of research institutes, professorships, and symposia in the fields of astrophysics, nanoscience, neuroscience, and theoretical physics as well as prizes in the fields of astrophysics, nanoscience, and neuroscience.

The Kavli Foundation was established in December 2000 by its founder and benefactor, Fred Kavli, a prominent California business leader and noted philanthropist whose foundation is currently actively involved in establishing major research institutes at leading universities and institutions in the United States, Europe and Asia.

The Kavli Foundation has made grants to establish Kavli Institutes on the campuses of the University of California Santa Barbara, Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...

, the California Institute of Technology, the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

, Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

, Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

, New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...

, Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

, the University of California San Diego, Delft University of Technology
Delft University of Technology
Delft University of Technology , also known as TU Delft, is the largest and oldest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands...

 in The Netherlands, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Peking University
Peking University
Peking University , colloquially known in Chinese as Beida , is a major research university located in Beijing, China, and a member of the C9 League. It is the first established modern national university of China. It was founded as Imperial University of Peking in 1898 as a replacement of the...

, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Chinese Academy of Sciences
The Chinese Academy of Sciences , formerly known as Academia Sinica, is the national academy for the natural sciences of the People's Republic of China. It is an institution of the State Council of China. It is headquartered in Beijing, with institutes all over the People's Republic of China...

, Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

, University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

 and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. These institutions are the beneficiaries of the Kavli Foundation as on date, and the list is bound to grow in the future.

In addition to the Kavli Institutes, six Kavli professorships have been established: two at University of California Santa Barbara, one at University of California Los Angeles, one at University of California Irvine, one at Columbia University, and one at California Institute of Technology.

Kavli Institutes

The Kavli Foundation has established research institutes at leading universities worldwide. Consistent with its business-like approach, Kavli requires each partner University to match the average $7.5 million donation. The institutes are not required to focus on any specific subject but are free to do any basic research they see fit.

Three researchers associated with the Kavli institutes have been awarded Nobel prizes: David Gross
David Gross
David Jonathan Gross is an American particle physicist and string theorist. Along with Frank Wilczek and David Politzer, he was awarded the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of asymptotic freedom. He is currently the director and holder of the Frederick W...

, Frank Wilczek
Frank Wilczek
Frank Anthony Wilczek is a theoretical physicist from the United States and a Nobel laureate. He is currently the Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ....

 and Richard Axel
Richard Axel
Richard Axel is an American neuroscientist whose work on the olfactory system won him and Linda B. Buck, a former post-doctoral scientist in his research group, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2004....

.

As of March, 2008, there are 15 institutes in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, 2 in China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

, 1 in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, 1 in Norway and 1 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. According to the Foundation eventually there might be as many 20 centres.

The fifteen Kavli Institutes are:

Astrophysics

  • Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
    Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology
    The Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology is an independent laboratory of Stanford University, founded in 2003 by a gift by Fred Kavli and The Kavli Foundation. It is housed on the grounds of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, as well as on the main Stanford campus...

     at Stanford University
  • Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago
  • Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Kavli Institute for Cosmology at the University of Cambridge
  • Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at Peking University in China

Nanoscience

  • Kavli Nanoscience Institute at Caltech
  • Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science
  • Kavli Institute of Nanoscience
    Kavli Institute of Nanoscience
    The Kavli Institute of Nanoscience Delft was established in 2004 at the Department of NanoScience, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Delft University of Technology through a grant by the US-based Kavli foundation....

     at Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands
  • Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology at Harvard University

Neuroscience

  • Kavli Institute for Brain Science at Columbia University
  • Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind at the University of California, San Diego
  • Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience
    Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience and Centre for the Biology of Memory
    The Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience and Centre for the Biology of Memory is a neuroscience research center at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The Kavli Institute coexists with the Centre for the Biology of Memory but the scope of the Institute is broader and more...

     at the Norwegian Institute of Technology
  • Kavli Institute for Neuroscience at Yale University

Theoretical physics

  • Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics
    Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics
    The Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics is a research institute of the University of California, Santa Barbara. KITP is one of the most renowned institutes for theoretical physics in the world. KITP programs bring theorists in physics and related fields together to work together on topics at...

     at the University of California, Santa Barbara
  • Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics China at the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Quotes

The curiosity of the human being is what has brought us where we are today, and I have complete confidence that it will take us where we need to be in the future.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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