October 13, 2011 -- Hundreds of guests were in attendance to witness the United Nations of New York present the Inaugural Social Entrepreneur and Philanthropist of the Year Award to Winston Chung, whose commitment to clean energy research, development, and production inspired the creation of the annual honor.
The award, according to UNA New York organizers, was jointly created in honor of the UN Secretary General H.E. Ban Ki-Moon’s core mission of promoting and encouraging environmental sustainability and social entrepreneurship.
“The choice of Mr. Winston Chung as the first recipient of this important award recognizes his extraordinary commitment to sustainable energy solutions, thereby helping achieve the seventh of the eight UN Millennium Development Goals regarding environmental sustainability,” the committee stated in announcing the new award. Other honorees were Johnson & Johnson vice-chair Sheri McCoy and supermodel & maternal health advocate Christy Turlington Burns, who both received the Humanitarian of the Year Award.
“In comparison to the overall environmental challenges facing the world today, my contribution is very small. I hope that by my example, and the example of many others who are also working to meet the world’s need for a cleaner environment and more energy, that the leaders and the entrepreneurs of the world will focus on the need to fundamentally change the way we create, deliver, and store energy,” Mr. Chung stated to a full room in accepting the award.
“The ever increasing worldwide demand for energy and the need to significantly improve the world’s environment will be impossible without new approaches,” he stated.
Changing the world by championing environmental sustainability has been his personal mission as an inventor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist for over 30 years. As a corporate leader and inventor of the Rare Earth Lithium-Yttrium Rechargeable Battery and the Rare Earth Lithium-Sulfur Rechargeable Battery, Mr. Chung’s collective enterprises — Winston Global Energy and Winston Battery Manufacturing — not only produce sustainable transportation technologies on a global scale, but they are leading the way in the next wave of the world’s energy revolution. Spanning multiple nations, including: China, the United States and European countries, his companies employ over 7100 people, with total assets over 31 billion dollar worldwide.
The United Nations Association of New York, led by Ms. Paula Rice Jackson is the host UN chapter of UNA-USA. It is dedicated to supporting the principles and vital work of the United Nations, strengthening the UN system and promoting constructive US leadership.
"My namesake Winston Churchill, paraphrasing a Chinese proverb once said 'We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give'. I will use this recognition and my resources to encourage others to devote their time, energy and resources to meeting what I consider the greatest challenge facing us today," Mr. Chung concluded.
