This award should not be confused with many others named after the famous physicist, such as the Albert Einstein World Award of Science given by the World Cultural Council (since 1984), the Albert Einstein Medal given by the Albert Einstein Society (since 1979), nor with the Hans Albert Einstein Award, named after his son and given by the American Society of Civil Engineers (since 1988). It was established much earlier than these, while Einstein was still alive and was a professor at the Institute for Advanced Study. It has been called "the highest of its kind in the United States" by The New York Times. Some considered it as "the prestigious equivalent of a Nobel Prize ".