THE NOBEL PRIZE AWARDERS

THE SECRET OF THEIR SUCCESS

The hundred-member Science Academy’s maneuvers to break Nobel’s will had failed. The grand home on top of the hilltop they had envisaged would not be built. That didn’t mean its leaders had abandoned their ambitions. They still had cards to play.

To that end, a representative of the Academy joined the “Large Committee,” a group Ragnar Sohlman and Carl Lindhagen had charged with formulating rules for the execution of the will.

Its thirteen members included representatives of four of the five prize-awarding institutions; both Nobel families; a Supreme Court justice speaking for the Crown, and Sohlman and Lindhagen. Only the Norwegians stayed away, mindful of their government’s on-going attempts to end Norway’s union with Sweden.

It took four months, but the committee made all sorts of decisions that would structure the system. Hard-to changes statutes, dealing with fundamental matters were promulgated. Somewhat more malleable regulations stipulated decision-making and distribution rul;es.A national holiday was established, Celebration Day, December 10, the day Nobel died, and his will took force.

About selection procedures, the rules were clear and concise. The Academy would sort members into nine classes: pure math, physics, chemistry, astronomy and so on. Classes would elect officers, then elect five members to serve on selection committees. Those five members would range far and wide, forming impressions and opinions, before meeting in May to decide which of several possibilities to recommend. If they couldn’t agree then, they would meet again in September.

Then back to the class, for advice and consent, and on to the Academy for a final decision by plenary vote. Several “Nobel Institutes” would be established, in which Academy members would work alongside the committees to double-check their conclusions. Details remained hazy.

After twenty meetings, the basic rule making was finished. The Large Committee tuned itself into the Nobel Foundation, to manage the money, tend the reputation of the institution, and serve as its public face.

The first prizes were announced, on schedule, in December 1901. Behind the scenes, the next tussle for dominion had already begun. The Statutes had nothing to say about the relationship between then Academy and its Committees. Not surprisingly, that was the rub.