UNESCO/Emir Jaber Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah Prize for Digital Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities

'My father achieved what people thought was impossible. Whenever anyone said he could not, he said I can and I will - and he did so with a smile.'

Author Lucy Hawking makes science accessible and entertaining through her ‘George’ book series of six adventure novels based on real science for young readers. Written in collaboration with world-leading scientists, the George series is published in over 40 languages, soon to include Zulu and Xhosa.
In 2015, Lucy created the Principia Space Diary with Curved House Kids for the UK Space agency, a book for primary students about astronaut Tim Peake’s mission to the ISS. Principia Space Diary was shortlisted in 2017 for the Arthur C Clarke award for education and outreach. In 2008, Lucy won the Sappio Prize for Popularizing Science and in 2015, the UNSW medal for Outstanding Science Communication.  In July 2015, Lucy was awarded an honorary doctorate in science by Queen Mary University London for her work in STEM education. In 2017, Lucy was a judge on the Royal Society’s Young Science Book of the year and is a regular judge for the Breakthrough Junior Challenge in Palo Alto, USA. With the Guardian Media Group, Lucy made a virtual reality film in 2017, The Party, about an autistic teenage girl. The Party was shortlisted in the Social Impact category at this year’s Virtual Reality Awards. Lucy is a trustee of the Autism Research Trust and chairperson of the Stephen Hawking Foundation.