This combination of undated photos provided by the Balzan Foundation shows, from top left, U.S. immunologist Carl H. June, Columbia University art historian Rosalind Krauss, French physicist Christophe Salomon, and American historian Josiah Ober. (Balzan Foundation via AP)
This undated photograph made available by the Balzan Foundation shows Columbia University art historian Rosalind Krauss. (Andrea Guernani/Balzan Foundation via AP)
This combination of undated photos provided by the Balzan Foundation shows, from top left, U.S. immunologist Carl H. June, Columbia University art historian Rosalind Krauss, French physicist Christophe Salomon, and American historian Josiah Ober. (Balzan Foundation via AP)
This undated photograph made available by the Balzan Foundation shows American historian Josiah Ober. (Balzan Foundation via AP)
This undated photograph made available by the Balzan Foundation shows Columbia University art historian Rosalind Krauss. (Andrea Guernani/Balzan Foundation via AP)
This undated photograph made available by the Balzan Foundation shows U.S. immunologist Carl H. June. (Balzan Foundation via AP)
This undated photograph made available by the Balzan Foundation shows French physicist Christophe Salomon. (Balzan Foundation via AP)
MILAN (AP) — American historian Josiah Ober, whose studies of Athenian democracy provide insights into current political crises, and U.S. immunologist Carl H. June, who works on gene-modified cell therapy that offers hope for future cures of autoimmune diseases, were among four winners of the 2025 Balzan Prizes announced Monday.
The Switzerland-based Balzan Foundation makes four awards each year in the humanities and hard sciences. Winners receive a total of 800,000 Swiss francs (about $940,000), half which must be used to support projects by young researchers. The awards were announced in the northern Italian city of Milan and will be presented in Bern, Switzerland on Nov. 14.
The other recipients were Rosalind Krauss, a Columbia University art historian cited for her role in establishing the field of contemporary art history, and French physicist Christophe Salomon, for his work revolutionizing the ultraprecise measurement of time, according to the Balzan Foundation.
Ober, the American historian, is a classics professor at Stanford University and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution. He was cited for “groundbreaking research†identifying factors behind the success of Athenian democracy, and drawing comparisons with the present day, the foundation said.
“The relevance of the topic is more than obvious, because it is clear in recent times that the Western form of democracy, long considered a model for ideal government, is truly in crisis, adding to the desire to study historic precedents to better understand the deep social and cultural transformations underway,’’ said Christoph Riedweg, a Swiss scholar who read the citations.
June, an immunologist at the University of Pennsylvania, was recognized for having invented a genetically engineered cellular therapy called CAR-T cells that has contributed to the treatment of childhood and adult leukemia, and holds promise for the treatment of autoimmune disease and solid tumors.
June runs a lab at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine that focuses on designing new engineered receptors for T-cells and developing improved delivery methods for use in cancer treatment.
“June’s pioneering discovery has had a cascading effect that has generated new versions of the CAR-T cells and to engineer new responses in cells,’’ said presenter Alberto Mantovani, an Italian immunologist. “The hope is that the CAR-T cells will help us to treat and heal autoimmune diseases,’’ for which currently there are no cures.
Krauss, lauded as one of the world's most acclaimed female scholars, was cited as a pioneer in contemporary art history who made it one of the most important disciplines within the broader field. She is the co-founder of the influential magazine “October,†and her writings have been translated into many languages.
Next year’s prizes will be awarded in the social science of digital technology, Jewish studies, biodegradable polymers from renewable sources and molecular evolution.
The Balzan Foundation will also make an additional award for Humanity, Peace and Fraternity among People.
