SANTA BARBARA, California (AP) Fred Kavli, who launched a foundation to support science research and award prizes of $1 million to scientists, has died in California. He was 86.
The Kavli Foundation said Kavli died Thursday at his home in Santa Barbara.
Kavli was a philanthropist, physicist and entrepreneur.In 2000, he founded a foundation bearing his name that supported basic research in astrophysics, nanoscience, neuroscience and theoretical physics.
In 2008, the foundation began awarding prizes to recognize scientists. Winners received a scroll, gold medal and $1 million.
A naturalized U.S. citizen, Kavli was born in 1927 on a small farm in Norway. He studied physics at the Norwegian Institute of Technology, now known as the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
