Career
In 1991, he set up the Kohn Foundation, which supports research and innovation in science and medicine, as well as the arts and education. The foundation endows several prizes for young scientists and musicians. Kohn was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society in 2006, in recognition of his contributions to science via the Kohn Foundation.
He is also an honorary fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences.
In November 2008, he delivered the Bynum Tudor Lecture at Kellogg College, University of Oxford. His interests include music and singing (baritone).
In 2004, he was a guest on Sue Lawley"s British Broadcasting Corporation Radio 4 radio programme, Desert Island Discs. Ralph Kohn financed John Eliot Gardiner’s Bach Cantatas project: "We should give them the sort of means which will allow them to lead a reasonable existence where they can devote themselves with heart, soul and body to their work", Kohn says.
"But the patron should not be their possessor.
As Clifford Curzon once said: ‘Isn’t it nice that we can give something to young artists so that we can lift them closer to the stars.’ That’s all it’s about."
He was knighted in the 2010 New Year Honours for services to science, music and charity.