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New banners to adorn Telegraph Avenue
From Ernest Lawrence, who earned
a Nobel Prize for cyclotron physics in 1939, to George Akerlof,
who shared the 2001
prize
in economics,
18 Berkeley professors
and
researchers
have received the Nobel Prize — 17 for scientific
achievement and one for literary success. These noble 18 are
being honored
with a 66-banner display on Telegraph, Bancroft and Durant,
scheduled to be installed at the beginning of April.
The brainstorm behind the banners belongs to Andy
Ross, owner of Cody’s
bookstore and president of the Telegraph Area Business Improvement
District (BID). Flying banners to promote pride of place has become
common in recent years, but as he points out, “The ones we
had on Telegraph were stale. One had
a pizza on it. Berkeley’s not
about fast food. Berkeley’s a great intellectual center, the
Athens of the west — and I don’t mean Athens, Georgia.” Spurred
by his annoyance with the status quo, Ross came up with lots of ideas
for banners, including Berkeley in the Sixties, famous Berkeley writers,
and the Nobel winners.
The Telegraph business group decided to move forward with the Nobel
banners as a first project and approached the university, which responded
with enthusiasm. John Hickey, design director of University Communications,
designed the handsome banners; the Telegraph BID paid for their production;
and the city of Berkeley approved the project and helped with installation.
Each banner is 2-feet wide by 7-feet tall, and features a black-and-white
image of a Nobel laureate, along with his name, dates, and field
of expertise.
“
I like the idea of the Telegraph area and the university celebrating
something together,” Ross said. “I’m hoping it
will be educational, too. People will want to come to Telegraph and
do a
walking tour to see the banners.”
For a complete listing of all 18 winners and their
achievements, visit http://www.berkeley.edu/news/berkeleyan/2001/10/17_time.html
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