#Hong Kong #Yidan Prize #Multilingual Education #Computational Thinking

Spotlight on the 2025 Yidan Prize Winners

The Yidan Prize Foundation, renowned for its commitment to enhancing education globally, has announced its 2025 laureates—Professor Uri Wilensky and Mamadou Amadou Ly. This prestigious recognition, often deemed the pinnacle award in education, honors those who significantly advance educational practices and research worldwide.

Recognizing Transformational Work in Education

Professor Uri Wilensky from Northwestern University has been awarded the Yidan Prize for Education Research. His influential contributions lie in developing agent-based modeling (ABM), a methodology that fosters complex systems literacy. Through his innovative work, he has created NetLogo, an open-source platform that allows individuals—ranging from young students to seasoned researchers—to simulate and understand a myriad of complex phenomena. From climate models to economic trends, NetLogo empowers users to explore how individual agents behave collectively, thereby providing vital insights into large-scale issues. As described by Andreas Schleicher from the Yidan Prize Education Research Judging Panel, Professor Wilensky's approach equips learners with the necessary tools to navigate the interconnected challenges of today’s world, from scientific dilemmas to social intricacies.

Similarly, Mamadou Amadou Ly, recognized as the 2025 Yidan Prize laureate for Education Development, is making strides with his organization, ARED. His initiatives emphasize bilingual education, showcasing the incredible benefits of teaching foundational literacy in students’ native languages while also incorporating additional languages necessary for academic success. His innovative practices, which promote equitable access to education, have already shown significant impact in West and Central Africa by transforming national education policies in countries like Senegal and The Gambia. Dorothy Gordon, leading the Yidan Prize Education Development Judging Panel, highlights Mamadou’s work as essential in fostering inclusivity in education, emphasizing its global relevance.

Commitment to Educational Empowerment

The Yidan Prize serves as a beacon for educators and innovators around the world, particularly in an era when educational funding and support are dwindling. Dr. Charles CHEN Yidan, the founder of the Yidan Prize, states that education is the key to unlocking a society's potential, arming individuals with skills necessary for continual learning and adaptation in a rapidly changing landscape. He affirms that the Yidan Prize aims to inspire educational advancements that foster a better future.

Awarding each laureate with a funding amount of HK$30 million (approximately US$3.8 million), the prize not only acknowledges their past contributions but also provides resources to scale their impactful educational models further. With prior awards amounting to HK$540 million over the years, the Yidan Prize Foundation has consistently supported and recognized groundbreaking educational achievements in over 50 countries. The driving force behind the Yidan Prize is not merely recognition but the tangible aim of nurturing sustainable educational innovation.

A Global Celebration of Education

The accolades for Professor Wilensky and Mamadou will culminate at the Yidan Prize Awards Ceremony on December 6, 2025, in Hong Kong, coinciding with the annual Yidan Prize Summit. This summit serves as a platform for educators and innovators to exchange ideas and best practices, paving the way for future advancements in education. Moreover, nominations for the subsequent 2026 Yidan Prize will open from October 2025 through March 2026, ensuring a continual cycle of recognizing and promoting educational excellence.

The Yidan Prize Foundation invites all stakeholders in education, from policymakers to practitioners, to engage in the ongoing dialogue concerning educational reform and innovation. By spotlighting leaders like Uri Wilensky and Mamadou Amadou Ly, the foundation seeks not only to highlight their work but to inspire a collective movement toward a brighter, more educated future for all.