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Templeton Prize

International award for affirming life's spiritual dimension

Summary

International award for affirming life's spiritual dimension

FieldValue
nameTempleton Prize
awarded_forOutstanding contributions in affirming life's spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works
imageBernard D'Espagnat receives prize from HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, Buckingham Palace (4440879448).jpg
image_upright1.13
captionBernard d'Espagnat receiving the Templeton Prize from the Duke of Edinburgh in 2009
image2File:Templeton Prize Award website logo.jpg
image2size
presenterTempleton Foundation
countryUnited States
reward£1.1 million (2019)
year1973
holderEcumenical Patriarch Bartholomew
website

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 co-funded by the John Templeton Foundation, Templeton Religion Trust, and Templeton World Charity Foundation, and administered by the John Templeton Foundation.

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. 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". Hindus, Christians, Jews, Buddhists and Muslims have been on the panel of judges and have been recipients of the prize.

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. , it is £1.1 million. It was typically presented by Prince Philip, during his lifetime, in ceremonies held at Buckingham Palace.

The prize has been referred to as prestigious and coveted, with The Washington Post calling it the most prestigious award in religion. Atheist scientists Richard Dawkins, 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", 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".

Laureates

YearLaureateNotesRef(s)
1973Mother TeresaFounder of the Missionaries of Charity; 1979 Nobel Peace Prize laureate
1974Frère RogerFounder of the Taizé Community
1975Sarvepalli RadhakrishnanFormer President of India, advocate of non-aggression with Pakistan
1976Leo Joseph SuenensPioneer in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal movement
1977Chiara LubichFounder of the Focolare Movement
1978Thomas F. TorranceFormer Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
1979Nikkyō NiwanoCo-founder of the Risshō Kōsei Kai
1980Ralph Wendell BurhoeFounder of the journal Zygon
1981Cicely SaundersFounder of the hospice and palliative care movement
1982Billy GrahamEvangelist
1983Aleksandr SolzhenitsynSoviet dissident novelist; Nobel laureate
1984Michael BourdeauxFounder of the Keston Institute
1985Sir Alister HardyFounder of the Religious Experience Research Centre
1986James I. McCordFormer president, Princeton Theological Seminary
1987Stanley JakiBenedictine priest; professor of astrophysics, Seton Hall University
1988Inamullah KhanFormer secretary-general, Modern World Muslim Congress
1989Carl Friedrich Freiherr von WeizsäckerPhysicist and philosopher
George MacLeodFounder of the Iona Community
1990Baba AmteDeveloper of modern communities for people suffering from leprosy
Charles BirchEmeritus professor, University of Sydney
1991Immanuel Jakobovits, Baron JakobovitsFormer Chief Rabbi of Great Britain and the Commonwealth
1992Kyung-Chik HanEvangelist and founder of Youngnak Presbyterian Church, Seoul. From northern Korea.
1993Charles ColsonFounder of the Prison Fellowship
1994Michael NovakPhilosopher and diplomat
1995Paul DaviesTheoretical physicist
1996Bill BrightFounder of the Campus Crusade for Christ
1997Pandurang Shastri AthavaleSocial reformer and philosopher, founder of the Swadhyaya Movement
1998Sir Sigmund SternbergPhilanthropist; founder of the Three Faith Forum
1999Ian BarbourFormer professor of science, technology and society, Carleton College
2000Freeman DysonTheoretical and mathematical physicist, mathematician, and statistician
2001Arthur PeacockeFormer dean, Clare College, Cambridge
2002John PolkinghornePhysicist and theologian
2003Holmes Rolston IIIPhilosopher
2004George F. R. EllisCosmologist and philosopher
2005Charles Hard TownesNobel laureate and physicist
2006John D. BarrowCosmologist and theoretical physicist
2007Charles TaylorPhilosopher
2008Michał HellerPhysicist and philosopher
2009Bernard d'EspagnatPhysicist
2010Francisco J. AyalaBiologist
2011Martin Rees, Baron Rees of LudlowCosmologist and astrophysicist
201214th Dalai Lama, Tenzin GyatsoSpiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, and 1989 Nobel Peace Prize laureate
2013Desmond TutuNobel laureate, social rights activist and retired Anglican archbishop
2014Tomáš HalíkRoman Catholic priest, theologian, philosopher
2015Jean VanierCatholic theologian, humanitarian and founder of L'Arche and Faith and Light
2016Jonathan SacksFormer Chief Rabbi of Great Britain, philosopher, and scholar of Judaism
2017Alvin PlantingaAmerican scholar, philosopher, and writer
2018Abdullah II of JordanKing of Jordan
2019Marcelo GleiserBrazilian physicist and astronomer, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Dartmouth College
2020Francis CollinsGeneticist and physician
2021Jane GoodallEthologist, activist and renowned chimpanzee researcher
2022Frank WilczekTheoretical physicist
2023Edna Adan IsmailHealth care advocate
2024Pumla Gobodo-MadikizelaPsychologist
2025Patriarch BartholomewEcumenical Patriarch of Constantinople

Notes

References

Specific

General

References

  1. Online: https://templetonreligiontrust.org/areas-of-focus/
  2. (17 February 2011). "Religion: Faith in Science". Nature.
  3. Enman, Charles. (8 July 2008). "Templeton Dies". Canada.com.
  4. Crewe}}{{dead link, Daniel. (15 March 2003). "Just Because Science Looks Forward, Religion Isn't Backward". The Times.
  5. "Judges". Templeton Foundation.
  6. (17 July 2008). "Obituary – John Templeton". The Economist.
  7. "Sir John Templeton, 1912–2008". Templeton Foundation.
  8. (3 June 2010). "God, Science and Philanthropy". The Nation.
  9. (19 March 2019). "Marcelo Gleiser Wins Templeton Prize For Quest To Confront 'Mystery Of Who We Are'". NPR.
  10. (16 March 2006). "Math Professor Wins a Coveted Religion Award". The New York Times.
  11. (29 March 2012). "Dalai Lama wins Templeton Prize for work on science, religion". The Washington Post.
  12. Connor, Steve. (7 April 2011). "For the Love of God... Scientists in Uproar at £1m Religion Prize". The Independent.
  13. Jones, Dan. (8 April 2011). "The Templeton Foundation Is Not an Enemy of Science". The Guardian.
  14. (9 March 2005). "US Scientist Wins Religion Prize". BBC News.
  15. Akbar, Arifa. (15 March 2007). "Philosopher Wins £800,000 Award for Spiritual Focus". The Independent.
  16. Templeton, John. (1998). "The Humble Approach: Scientists Discover God". Templeton Foundation Press.
  17. "Lubich, Chiara".
  18. Saxon, Wolfgang. (16 May 1997). "Ralph Wendell Burhoe, 85; Reconciled Science and Faith". The New York Times.
  19. Clark, David. (2005). "Cicely Saunders – Founder of the Hospice Movement: Selected Letters 1959–1999". Oxford University Press.
  20. Hood, Ralph Jr.. (2003). "The Psychology of Religion: An Empirical Approach". Guilford Press.
  21. Berger, Joseph. (27 February 1986). "Princeton Theologian Wins Templeton Prize of $250,000". The New York Times.
  22. (14 March 2002). "British Physicist Wins Religious Prize". BBC News.
  23. Steinfels, Peter. (30 October 1988). "Religion Notes; Prize Winner, Accused of Bias, Collects Award". The New York Times.
  24. "Previous Winners". Templeton Foundation.
  25. MacLeod, George. (1991). "Daily Readings with George Macleod". Fount.
  26. Pandya, Haresh. (17 February 2008). "Baba Amte, 93, Dies; Advocate for Lepers". The New York Times.
  27. "Emeritus Professor Louis Charles Birch". University of Sydney.
  28. Brozan, Nadine. (12 March 1992). "Chronicle". The New York Times.
  29. Niebuhr, Gustav. (9 March 1995). "Scientist Wins Religion Prize of $1 Million". The New York Times.
  30. Niebuhr, Gustav. (6 March 1997). "Leader of Spiritual Movement Wins $1.2 Million Religion Prize". The New York Times.
  31. Connor, Steve. (23 March 2000). "£600,000 Prize for Physicist Who Urges Ethics in Science". The Independent.
  32. Niebuhr, Gustav. (9 March 2001). "Religion Prize Won by Priest Much Involved with Science". The New York Times.
  33. Sewell, Helen. (19 March 2003). "Environmentalist Wins $1m Prize". BBC News.
  34. Howse, Christopher. (20 March 2004). "Sacred Mysteries". The Daily Telegraph.
  35. (15 March 2006). "British Scientist Wins $1m Prize". BBC News.
  36. Jeffries, Stuart. (8 December 2007). "Is That All There Is?". The Guardian.
  37. Hall, John. (12 March 2008). "Cosmologist Wins World's Largest Monetary Award". The Independent.
  38. Gledhill, Ruth. (16 March 2009}}{{dead link). "Bernard d'Espagnat Wins £1m Templeton Prize". The Times.
  39. Dean, Cornelia. (25 March 2010). "Biologist Wins Templeton Prize". The New York Times.
  40. Satter, Raphael. (6 April 2011). "UK Astrophysicist Wins $1.6 Million Religion Prize". ABC News.
  41. (30 March 2012). "Dalai Lama Wins 2012 Templeton Prize". Philanthropy News Daily.
  42. (4 April 2013). "Archbishop Desmond Tutu Wins £1.1m Templeton Prize". BBC News.
  43. Bingham, John. (13 March 2014). "Czech Priest and Former Dissident Tomáš Halík Wins £1.1m Templeton Prize". The Telegraph.
  44. Blumberg, Antonia. (19 June 2015). "For Jean Vanier, Templeton Prize Winner, Loving People With Disabilities Is A Religious Experience". [[The Huffington Post]].
  45. Cooper, Georgina. (2 March 2016). "Former British Chief Rabbi Wins $1.5 Million Templeton Prize". [[Reuters]].
  46. Shortt, Rupert. (2 May 2017). "Alvin Plantinga and the Templeton Prize". The Times Literary Supplement.
  47. (28 June 2018). "King Announced 2018 Templeton Prize Laureate for Interfaith, Intrafaith Harmony Efforts". [[The Jordan Times]].
  48. (19 March 2019). "Current Winner". John Templeton Foundation.
  49. (19 March 2019). "Brazilian Physicist Wins $1.4 Million Templeton Prize". [[Reuters]].
  50. (20 May 2020). "Francis Collins Awarded 2020 Templeton Prize".
  51. (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.
  53. (16 May 2023). "Prominent Foe of Female Genital Mutilation Wins Prestigious Templeton Prize". VOA News.
  54. Luscombe, Belinda. (4 June 2024). "This Psychologist Just Won $1.3 Million for Her Work on Trauma and Repair".
  55. (11 April 2025). "The 2025 Templeton Prize to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew".
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