His victory has been claimed as an honor for Academia Sinica, for National Tsing Hua University, for National Taiwan University, for the city of Hsinchu, for the Chinese people, and even for the elementary school he attended as a child.
金榜題名，最是光宗耀祖，何況這張榜單非比尋常，乃是舉世競逐的崇高榮耀。消息傳來，李博士登時光芒萬丈﹘﹘人說他的得獎是中研院之光、清華之光、台大之光、新竹之光，尤其是中國人之光。連新竹國小，也歡天喜地地尋出將近四十年前，李遠哲參加乒乓球隊的簽名錦旗來。