Israel gives $1 million honour to Wikipedia founder, 5 others

Jerusalem: Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales is among the winners of this year's Dan David Prize for scientific, technological and cultural accomplishments.

The Dan David Foundation awards three $1 million prizes annually in three categories: past, present and future. The prize is named after the late philanthropist Dan David and administered by Tel Aviv University. On Tuesday it announced the winners for 2015. Wales is being honoured for launching the world's largest online encyclopedia.

The others honored this year are historians Peter R. Brown and Alessandro Portelli and scientists Cyrus Chothia, David Haussler and Michael Waterman. An award ceremony is planned for May.

Previous recipients include former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen.