View full sizeOregon software developer Linus Torvalds, the chief architect of Linux, will share the 2012 Millennium Technology Prize this year with Shinya Yamanaka. It's the first time the prize will be shared. Oregon software developer
, the creator of the Linux computer operating system, was named today the co-winner of the 2012
, the world's largest tech prize.
Torvalds, 42, shares the award with renown stem cell researcher
of Japan. The two will split the 1.2 million euro ($1.5 million) prize pool accompanying this year's award, which is presented every other year by
.
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto will present the awards today during a ceremony in Helsinki.
This marks the first time the prize has been shared, the academy's president, Ainomaija Haarla, said in a prepared statement.
"Dr. Shinya Yamanaka's work in stem cell research and Linus Torvalds's work in open source software have transformed their fields and will remain important for generations to come," he said.
Torvalds was born in Finland and worked on Linux as a student at the University of Helsinki. Linux was first released in 1991. Torvalds is now seen as Linux's chief architect. In 2004, he moved to Oregon; six years later he became an American citizen.
Linux is now virtually omnipresent. It's used on everything from supercomputers to mobile phones and seemingly everything in-between. The nonprofit
was created in 2007 to promote the use of Linux.
The Millennium Prize is often described as the Nobel Prize of the technology world and has the reputation of rewarding innovation. It even outranks the Nobel in terms of cash awarded: this year's Nobel winners will each receive $900,800 euros by comparison.
Past recipients include the inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, in 2004; Shuji Nakamura, creator of blue, green and white LED light sources, in 2006; and Robert Langer, a biomedical engineer known for drug delivery systems and other advances in biotechnology, in 2008.
Usually, Millennium winners use their cash prizes to further developments in their field.
In a written statement, Torvalds thanked the Technology Academy and said: "I'd also like to thank all the people I've worked with, who have helped make the project not only such a technical success, but have made it so fun and interesting."
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