The Thomas and Doris Ammann Prize

About the Ammann Prize

The Thomas und Doris Ammann Prize, awarded by the University Children’s Hospital Zurich, honors outstanding scientists globally whose pioneering work has advanced pediatric medicine and benefited society.
Endowed with CHF 200,000, the prize celebrates medical excellence and scientific innovation.

Key facts:

• Recognizes foundational and pioneering research of broad societal impact
• Awarded by the University Children’s Hospital Zurich
• First awarded in 2026 in the field of pediatric medicine

Thomas Ammann Fine Art AG, Zurich was founded in 1977 by the late Thomas Ammann and his sister, the late Doris Ammann. For more than 43 years, the gallery focused on Impressionism and 20th-century art, placing exceptional paintings, drawings, and sculptures in major private collections and museums around the world. Highlights included the sale of Vincent van Gogh’s Portrait of Joseph Roulin (1889) to the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1989, and the acquisition of Willem de Kooning’s Woman III (1953) from the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art for an important U.S. private collection in 1994.

Staying true to his guiding principle, “Do not collect what you intend to sell,” Thomas Ammann kept his work as a dealer of early 20th-century art strictly separate from his private collecting of postwar and contemporary art. The artists he collected included Andy Warhol, Cy Twombly, Brice Marden, Robert Ryman, Sigmar Polke, Eric Fischl, and Francesco Clemente. In 1977, he also launched the Andy Warhol Catalogue Raisonné project, which later grew into a major collaboration with the Andy Warhol Foundation.

After Thomas Ammann’s early passing in 1993, his sister Doris—co-owner of the gallery since its founding—continued to lead it with the same success. Following her unexpected death, and in accordance with her final will, the gallery’s holdings were transferred in 2021 to a grant making organization: the newly established Thomas and Doris Ammann Foundation. The foundation’s mission is to support Human Children Medicine, the Education of Children and Young People, Art History, and Art Education.