I wonder what the point of giving them $50K is. Are the kind of people who would do these kinds of things motivated by this kind of money? What's the extra benefit of the money over just cashless recognition? Extra publicity? Are there cheaper ways to get that extra publicity? What about naming things after them?
Or do we need to give them cash to get them to accept the reward or for the public to not look down on the award?
Good point. I do think it has to be an expensive signal, but why not U$25k instead of 50?
In the case of Petrov, I'm under the impression (based on a documentary about him) that he probably didn't have much money, and that the prize had an element of "help a hero live in comfort." This isn't an impact-focused reason to give money, but does play into the "unsung hero" element (by creating the impression of the hero finally being "sung"/rewarded).
It's also plausible to me that the prize could have been funded by a donor who really wanted to give out cash rewards, and just worked with FLI to implement their idea (but I have no idea whether this is true and I don't think it's likely).
Petrov's family received the award a bit over a year after he passed away, though, in this case. Of course, I'd imagine he would have wanted his family to live in comfort, too, or maybe the decision was made before his passing.
https://futureoflife.org/future-of-life-award-unsung-hero-search/
Every year, the Future of Life Institute (FLI) awards U$50,000 to an unsung hero - an "individual who, without receiving much recognition at the time, has helped make today dramatically better than it may otherwise have been". Previously, the prize went to Vasili Arkhipov, S. Petrov and Matthew Meselson.
I think it might be interesting to discuss the subject in this Forum.
On the other hand... well, there's money to be made. Maybe that's why people don't debate it openly?
I don't know who would win, but if people are taking nominations I'd like to nominate Maurice Hilleman:
Wow, that's astonishing. I imagine it's more complex than a single person single-handedly developing each vaccine, but still.
A very strong candidate, indeed. But my nomination goes to a classical: Viktor Zhdanov, the soviet bioweapons expert who convinced WHO to eradicate smallpox. (I just realized that it would be the third soviet citizen winning the award)
Allow me to brag a little bit: I got this one half-right - Willaim Foege and Viktor Zhdanov will both win this year's prize.