Honor Benepe For Work On Nobel Site

Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe will be honored April 9 by the Swedish Consulate for his help securing a site for the Nobel Monument, which honors American recipients of the Nobel Prize.

Mr. Benepe was appointed Commander of the Royal Order of the Polar Star by His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf at the ceremony for his help with the monument.

The monument honors the 290 American Nobel Laureates - no other country has had as many winners - as well as the founder of the prize, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel.

It is located in Theodore Roosevelt Park behind New York's Museum of Natural History. The location is symbolic, as Mr. Roosevelt was the first American to be awarded the prize in 1906.

The stone, which lists the names of the American winners, was designed by Swedish sculptor Sivert Lindblom. It also has space for future honorees to be inscribed. The tribute was presented as a gift to New York in 2003.