Templeton Prize

The Templeton Prize is an annual award granted to a living person, in the estimation of the judges, "whose exemplary achievements advance Sir John Templeton's philanthropic vision: harnessing the power of the sciences to explore the deepest questions of the universe and humankind's place and purpose within it." It was established, funded and administered by John Templeton starting in 1972. It is now co-funded by the John Templeton Foundation, Templeton Religion Trust, and Templeton World Charity Foundation, and administered by the John Templeton Foundation.^[1]

Templeton Prize
Bernard d'Espagnat receiving the Templeton Prize from the Duke of Edinburgh in 2009
Awarded for	Outstanding contributions in affirming life's spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works
Country	United States
Presented by	Templeton Foundation
Reward(s)	£1.1 million (2019)
First award	1973
Currently held by	Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela
Website	templetonprize.org

The prize was originally awarded to people working in the field of religion (Mother Teresa was the first winner), but in the 1980s the scope broadened to include people working at the intersection of science and religion.^[2] Until 2001, the name of the prize was "Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion", and from 2002 to 2008 it was called the "Templeton Prize for Progress Toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities".^[3][4] Hindus, Christians, Jews, Buddhists and Muslims have been on the panel of judges and have been recipients of the prize.^[5]

The monetary value of the prize is adjusted so that it exceeds that of the Nobel Prizes; Templeton felt, according to The Economist, that "spirituality was ignored" in the Nobel Prizes.^[6] As of 2019^[update], it is £1.1 million.^[7] It was typically presented by Prince Philip, during his lifetime, in ceremonies held at Buckingham Palace.^[8]

The prize has been referred to as prestigious^[9] and coveted,^[10] with The Washington Post calling it the most prestigious award in religion.^[11] Atheist scientists Richard Dawkins,^[12] Harry Kroto^[13] and Jerry Coyne have criticized the prize as "blurring [religion's] well-demarcated border with science" and being awarded "to scientists who are either religious themselves or say nice things about religion",^[14] a criticism rejected by 2011 laureate Martin Rees, who pointed to his own and other laureates' atheism and that their research in fields such as psychology, evolutionary biology, and economy can hardly be classified as the "promotion of religion".^[14]

Laureates

Year	Laureate		Notes	Ref(s)
1973		Mother Teresa	Founder of the Missionaries of Charity; 1979 Nobel Peace Prize laureate	[15]
1974		Frère Roger	Founder of the Taizé Community	[16]
1975		Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan	Former President of India, advocate of non-aggression with Pakistan	[16]
1976		Leo Joseph Suenens	Pioneer in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement	[17]
1977		Chiara Lubich	Founder of the Focolare Movement	[18]
1978	—	Thomas F. Torrance	Former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland	[17]
1979		Nikkyō Niwano	Co-founder of the Risshō Kōsei Kai	[17]
1980	—	Ralph Wendell Burhoe	Founder of the journal Zygon	[19]
1981		Cicely Saunders	Founder of the hospice and palliative care movement	[20]
1982		Billy Graham	Evangelist	[21]
1983		Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn	Soviet dissident novelist; Nobel laureate	[21]
1984	—	Michael Bourdeaux	Founder of the Keston Institute	[16]
1985	—	Sir Alister Hardy	Founder of the Religious Experience Research Centre	[22]
1986	—	James I. McCord	Former president, Princeton Theological Seminary	[23]
1987		Stanley Jaki	Benedictine priest; professor of astrophysics, Seton Hall University	[21]
1988	—	Inamullah Khan	Former secretary-general, Modern World Muslim Congress	[24]
1989		Carl Friedrich Freiherr von Weizsäcker[a]	Physicist and philosopher	[17]
	—	George MacLeod[a]	Founder of the Iona Community	[26]
1990		Baba Amte[b]	Developer of modern communities for people suffering from leprosy	[27]
	—	Charles Birch[b]	Emeritus professor, University of Sydney	[28]
1991		Immanuel Jakobovits, Baron Jakobovits	Former Chief Rabbi of Great Britain and the Commonwealth	[17]
1992		Kyung-Chik Han	Evangelist and founder of Youngnak Presbyterian Church, Seoul. From northern Korea.	[29]
1993		Charles Colson	Founder of the Prison Fellowship	[16]
1994		Michael Novak	Philosopher and diplomat	[16]
1995		Paul Davies	Theoretical physicist	[30]
1996		Bill Bright	Founder of the Campus Crusade for Christ	[31]
1997	—	Pandurang Shastri Athavale	Social reformer and philosopher, founder of the Swadhyay Movement	[31]
1998	—	Sir Sigmund Sternberg	Philanthropist; founder of the Three Faith Forum	[16]
1999	—	Ian Barbour	Former professor of science, technology and society, Carleton College	[32]
2000		Freeman Dyson	Theoretical and mathematical physicist, mathematician, and statistician	[32]
2001	—	Arthur Peacocke	Former dean, Clare College, Cambridge	[33]
2002		John Polkinghorne	Physicist and theologian	[16]
2003		Holmes Rolston III	Philosopher	[34]
2004		George F. R. Ellis	Cosmologist and philosopher	[35]
2005		Charles Hard Townes	Nobel laureate and physicist	[15]
2006		John D. Barrow	Cosmologist and theoretical physicist	[36]
2007		Charles Taylor	Philosopher	[12]
2008		Michał Heller	Physicist and philosopher	[37]
2009		Bernard d'Espagnat	Physicist	[38]
2010		Francisco J. Ayala	Biologist	[39]
2011		Martin Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow	Cosmologist and astrophysicist	[40]
2012		14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso	Spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, and 1989 Nobel Peace Prize laureate	[41]
2013		Desmond Tutu	Nobel laureate, social rights activist and retired Anglican archbishop	[42]
2014		Tomáš Halík	Roman Catholic priest, theologian, philosopher	[43]
2015		Jean Vanier	Catholic theologian, humanitarian and founder of L'Arche and Faith and Light	[44]
2016		Jonathan Sacks	Former Chief Rabbi of Great Britain, philosopher, and scholar of Judaism	[45]
2017		Alvin Plantinga	American scholar, philosopher, and writer	[46]
2018		Abdullah II of Jordan	King of Jordan	[47]
2019		Marcelo Gleiser	Brazilian physicist and astronomer, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Dartmouth College	[48][49]
2020		Francis Collins	Geneticist and physician	[50]
2021		Jane Goodall	Ethologist, activist and renowned chimpanzee researcher	[51]
2022		Frank Wilczek	Theoretical physicist	[52]
2023		Edna Adan Ismail	Health care advocate	[53]
2024		Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela	Psychologist	[54]

See also

• List of religion-related awards

Notes

1. Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker and Lord MacLeod of Fuinary were jointly awarded the prize in 1989.^[25]
2. Baba Amte and Charles Birch were jointly awarded the prize in 1990.^[25]

References

Specific

1. Online: https://templetonreligiontrust.org/areas-of-focus/
2. Waldrop, M. Mitchell (17 February 2011). "Religion: Faith in Science". Nature. 470 (7334): 323–325. Bibcode:2011Natur.470..323W. doi:10.1038/470323a. PMID 21331019.
3. Enman, Charles (8 July 2008). "Templeton Dies". Canada.com. Ottawa Citizen. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2009.
4. Crewe, Daniel (15 March 2003). "Just Because Science Looks Forward, Religion Isn't Backward". The Times. London. Retrieved 2 July 2009.^{[dead link‍]}
5. "Judges". Templeton Prize. West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania: Templeton Foundation. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
6. "Obituary – John Templeton". The Economist. London. 17 July 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
7. "Sir John Templeton, 1912–2008". Templeton Prize. West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania: Templeton Foundation. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
8. Schneider, Nathan (3 June 2010). "God, Science and Philanthropy". The Nation. New York.
9. Dwyer, Colin (19 March 2019). "Marcelo Gleiser Wins Templeton Prize For Quest To Confront 'Mystery Of Who We Are'". NPR. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
10. Overbye, Dennis (16 March 2006). "Math Professor Wins a Coveted Religion Award". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
11. "Dalai Lama wins Templeton Prize for work on science, religion". The Washington Post. 29 March 2012. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
12. Jeffries, Stuart (8 December 2007). "Is That All There Is?". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
13. Connor, Steve (7 April 2011). "For the Love of God... Scientists in Uproar at £1m Religion Prize". The Independent. London. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
14. Jones, Dan (8 April 2011). "The Templeton Foundation Is Not an Enemy of Science". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
15. "US Scientist Wins Religion Prize". BBC News. 9 March 2005. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
16. Akbar, Arifa (15 March 2007). "Philosopher Wins £800,000 Award for Spiritual Focus". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 5 April 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
17. Templeton, John (1998). The Humble Approach: Scientists Discover God. Philadelphia: Templeton Foundation Press. pp. 170–172. ISBN 978-1-890151-17-1.
18. "Lubich, Chiara". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
19. Saxon, Wolfgang (16 May 1997). "Ralph Wendell Burhoe, 85; Reconciled Science and Faith". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
20. Clark, David (2005). Cicely Saunders – Founder of the Hospice Movement: Selected Letters 1959–1999. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 131. ISBN 978-0-19-856969-5.
21. "British Physicist Wins Religious Prize". BBC News. 14 March 2002. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
22. Hood, Ralph Jr. (2003). The Psychology of Religion: An Empirical Approach (3rd ed.). New York: Guilford Press. p. 248. ISBN 978-1-57230-116-0.
23. Berger, Joseph (27 February 1986). "Princeton Theologian Wins Templeton Prize of $250,000". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
24. Steinfels, Peter (30 October 1988). "Religion Notes; Prize Winner, Accused of Bias, Collects Award". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
25. "Previous Winners". Templeton Prize. West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania: Templeton Foundation. Retrieved 3 July 2007.
26. MacLeod, George (1991). Ferguson, Ronald (ed.). Daily Readings with George Macleod. London: Fount. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-00-627513-8.
27. Pandya, Haresh (17 February 2008). "Baba Amte, 93, Dies; Advocate for Lepers". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
28. "Emeritus Professor Louis Charles Birch". Sydney: University of Sydney. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
29. Brozan, Nadine (12 March 1992). "Chronicle". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
30. Niebuhr, Gustav (9 March 1995). "Scientist Wins Religion Prize of $1 Million". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
31. Niebuhr, Gustav (6 March 1997). "Leader of Spiritual Movement Wins $1.2 Million Religion Prize". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
32. Connor, Steve (23 March 2000). "£600,000 Prize for Physicist Who Urges Ethics in Science". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
33. Niebuhr, Gustav (9 March 2001). "Religion Prize Won by Priest Much Involved with Science". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
34. Sewell, Helen (19 March 2003). "Environmentalist Wins $1m Prize". BBC News. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
35. Howse, Christopher (20 March 2004). "Sacred Mysteries". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
36. "British Scientist Wins $1m Prize". BBC News. 15 March 2006. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
37. Hall, John (12 March 2008). "Cosmologist Wins World's Largest Monetary Award". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
38. Gledhill, Ruth (16 March 2009). "Bernard d'Espagnat Wins £1m Templeton Prize". The Times. London. Retrieved 2 July 2009.^{[dead link‍]}
39. Dean, Cornelia (25 March 2010). "Biologist Wins Templeton Prize". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
40. Satter, Raphael (6 April 2011). "UK Astrophysicist Wins $1.6 Million Religion Prize". ABC News. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
41. "Dalai Lama Wins 2012 Templeton Prize". Philanthropy News Daily. 30 March 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
42. "Archbishop Desmond Tutu Wins £1.1m Templeton Prize". BBC News. 4 April 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
43. Bingham, John (13 March 2014). "Czech Priest and Former Dissident Tomáš Halík Wins £1.1m Templeton Prize". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 13 March 2014.
44. Blumberg, Antonia (19 June 2015). "For Jean Vanier, Templeton Prize Winner, Loving People With Disabilities Is A Religious Experience". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
45. Cooper, Georgina (2 March 2016). "Former British Chief Rabbi Wins $1.5 Million Templeton Prize". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
46. Shortt, Rupert (2 May 2017). "Alvin Plantinga and the Templeton Prize". The Times Literary Supplement. London. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
47. "King Announced 2018 Templeton Prize Laureate for Interfaith, Intrafaith Harmony Efforts". The Jordan Times. 28 June 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
48. "Current Winner". Templeton Prize. West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania: John Templeton Foundation. 19 March 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
49. "Brazilian Physicist Wins $1.4 Million Templeton Prize". Reuters. 19 March 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
50. "Francis Collins Awarded 2020 Templeton Prize". Templeton Prize. 20 May 2020. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
51. Sherwood, Harriet (20 May 2021). "Naturalist Jane Goodall wins 2021 Templeton prize for life's work". The Guardian.
52. Henao, Luis Andres (11 May 2022). "Nobel laureate and physicist Wilczek wins Templeton Prize". AP News. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
53. "Prominent Foe of Female Genital Mutilation Wins Prestigious Templeton Prize". VOA News. 16 May 2023. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
54. Luscombe, Belinda (4 June 2024). "This Psychologist Just Won $1.3 Million for Her Work on Trauma and Repair". Time. Retrieved 19 June 2024.

General

• "Previous Winners". Templeton Prize. West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania: Templeton Foundation. Retrieved 3 July 2007.

External links

• Official website