Sometime in the late 1990s, one of Hong Kong's long-time educational donors decided that giving hundreds of millions to local universities was no longer enough to satisfy his philanthropic urges. Across the city, university buildings, academic halls and sports grounds bore the name of Sir Run Run Shaw, but they were all next to buildings and facilities that also carried the names of many of his famous fellow tycoons.
There was the Shaw Sports Complex and the Shaw Amenities Buildings at the Polytechnic University; and the Sir Run Run Shaw Hall and the Shaw Campus at the Chinese University. At the University of Hong Kong, there are more buildings to honour the man. But the names of Li Ka-shing, Pao Yue-kong and Stanley Ho Hung- sun figure as prominently on local university campuses.
The man behind the Shaw Brothers movie studio and Television Broadcasts (TVB) - who, this year, celebrates his 100th birthday - began to aim much higher in order to seal his reputation as a premier benefactor, not only in Hong Kong but in the world of international science.
Thus were born the seeds that led to the establishment of the Shaw Foundation which, since 2004, has given out three prizes each year worth US$1 million each to the most distinguished practitioners in their fields.
The three Shaw prizes - in astronomy, mathematics, and life science and medicine - skirt around the Nobel and the Fields Medal (the highest international honour for mathematicians before the age of 40). The Nobel does not cover mathematics and astronomy; unlike the Fields Medal, the Shaw Prize has no age limit.
The award was a major departure for Sir Run Run's decades-long philanthropy - it no longer focuses on local education. It aims for the kind of universality embodied by the Nobel Prize. To recognise scientific achievements for the ages, it seeks to honour, in its official words, 'individuals, regardless of race, nationality and religious belief, who have achieved significant breakthrough in academic and scientific research or application, and whose work has resulted in a positive and profound impact on mankind'.