Hollywood + Silicon Valley Unite As Chopard Celebrates The 2020 Breakthrough Prize

2020 Breakthrough Prize
Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg attend the 2020 Breakthrough Prize Red Carpet at NASA Ames Research Center

Photo Credit: Ian Tuttle/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize

Chopard presented a glittering evening to the Silicon Valley elite over the weekend as the Breakthrough Prize Foundation recognized the outstanding achievement of individuals in the fields of Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics and Mathematics in a ceremony held at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California.

2020 Breakthrough Prize
Drew Barrymore

Photo Credit: Ian Tuttle/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize

The luxury watch and jewelry house once again partnered with the foundation to create special jewelry pieces for the 2020 Breakthrough Prize laureates, which were awarded ahead of the eighth annual “Oscars of Science” event on Sunday.

2020 Breakthrough Prize
David Foster and Katharine McPhee

Photo Credit: Ian Tuttle/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize

All honorees were presented with exceptional pairs of earrings, cufflinks and pins featuring dancing blue sapphires, yellow sapphires and tsavorites, respectively, for each of the Fundamental Physics, Mathematics and Life Sciences laureates at the ceremony, which was hosted by Tony Award winner and host of “The Late Late Show,” James Corden.  Six New Horizons prizes. worth $100,000 each, were awarded for early-career achievements in physics and math.

2020 Breakthrough Prize
Taraji P. Henson

Photo Credit: Ian Tuttle/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize

The event brought together stars from the world of entertainment and Silicon Valley to celebrate science and scientific achievement. This year’s celebrity guests included musical performers Will.i.am, Lenny Kravitz, Rachel Zhang, and presenters Allison Janney, Edward Norton, Karlie Kloss, Drew Barrymore, LeVar Burton, Taraji P. Henson, Tyra Banks, and long-time friend of Chopard, model Adriana Lima.

2020 Breakthrough Prize
Tyra Banks and Sergey Brin

Photo Credit: Ian Tuttle/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize

2020 Breakthrough Prize
Karlie Kloss

This year, the Breakthrough Prize Foundation awarded a collective total of $21.6 million for Breakthoughs in Creating the First Image of a Black Hole, Determining the Biological Basis of Obesity, and Discoveries in the Biochemistry of Pain Sensation and other major achievements.

2020 Breakthrough Prize
Lenny Kravitz and Mark Zuckerburg

Photo Credit: Ian Tuttle/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize

The Breakthrough Prize is sponsored by Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, Ma Huateng, Yuri and Julia Milner, and Anne Wojcicki. Selection Committees composed of previous Breakthrough Prize laureates in each field choose the winners.

2020 Breakthrough Prize
Brian Grazer and Veronica Grazer

Photo Credit: Ian Tuttle/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize

This year’s winners included 2020 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics Awarded to 347 Members of the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration. The 2020 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences was awarded to Jeffrey M. Friedman, F. Ulrich Hartl and Arthur L. Horwich, David Julius, and Virginia Man-Yee Lee. The 2020 Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics was awarded to Alex Eskin, while the 2019 Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics was awarded to Sergio Ferrara, Daniel Z. Freedman and Peter van Nieuwenhuizen.

2020 Breakthrough Prize
will.i.am

Photo Credit: Ian Tuttle/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize