John and Alice Tyler decided in 1972 to create a new international
award to recognize those individuals who have contributed in an
outstanding manner to the scientific knowledge and public leadership to
preserve and enhance the environment of the world.
The Tylers had become highly concerned about the effects of
increasing pollution and ecological imbalance, and they decided to do
something about it. Their foresight in the context of that time is hard
to appreciate today because the environmental debate was still in its
infancy and was contested by many. The nations of the world were only
beginning to look for answers to the international environmental crisis
by assembling at the first United Nations Conference on the Human
Environment in Stockholm, Sweden that same year.
Selection Criteria
- The protection, maintenance, improvement or understanding of an ecological or an environmental condition anywhere in the world.
- The discovery, further development, improvement, or understanding of known or new sources of energy.
- Medical discoveries or achievements with such worldwide implications that they significantly benefit environmental aspects of human health.
Eligibility
Living individuals or public or private institutions of any nation, are eligible for nomination.
Who May Nominate
Living individuals or public or private institutions of any nation, are eligible for nomination.
Who May Nominate
- Persons eligible to make nominations include, but are not limited to:
- Any individuals or entity active in fields such as biology, oceanography, geology, medicine, public health, chemistry, and physics; engineers in.fields such as civil, environmental, petroleum and chemical engineering, and social scientists in fields such as geography, political science, economics and the law; and universities, research institutions and their members.