Two University of Richmond Professors Win Templeton Foundation's 2006 "In Character" Prize for Op-Ed Writing
October 19, 2006
Douglas A. Hicks and Jonathan B. Wight have won the inaugural In CharacterPrize, saluting the editorial treatment of human virtue and its importance in the life of American society. The $10,000 prize was awarded at a dinner at the Library of Congress Oct. 17.
Hicks, associate professor of leadership studies and religion and director of the Center for Civic Engagement, and Wight, associate professor of economics and international studies at the Robins School of Business, were recognized for “Disaster Relief: What Would Adam Smith Do?” originally published in the Jan. 18, 2005 Christian Science Monitor.
“The submissions to the prize demonstrate a broad and universal concern for the role of good character, and how it provides the foundation for habits, practices and ways of living that foster human happiness and fulfillment,” said Kimon Sargeant, vice president of human sciences of the John Templeton Foundation, publisher of In Character magazine. “Douglas and Jonathan’s essay reminds us that compassion for those who are suffering—and action in response to that feeling—is something we can all applaud.”
The prize recognizes work published during 2005 in the United States. On the basis of character, style of presentation and innovativeness, the judges evaluated 195 entries from newspapers published in 25 states, including submissions from the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Arkansas Times, Philadelphia Daily News and USA Today. The winning essays are available on the In CharacterWeb site, http://www.incharacter.org/prize.php.
The competition was judged by the editors of In Charactermagazine, as well as three guests: Tom Goldstein, professor and program director of mass communications, University of California, Berkeley; Christine Rosen, former editor of In Character, now a fellow at the Ethics & Public Policy Center, Washington; and Alan Wolfe, professor of political science and director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life at Boston College.
In Character, now in its seventh issue, is distributed free to 3,200 leading opinion-makers in the English-speaking world—a politically and professionally diverse group of writers, law professors, members of the clergy, policy wonks, poets, physicists, medical ethicists, bloggers, atheists, bishops, philosophers, statisticians, actors, scientists, economists, historians, business leaders and journalists. It is also available to the public by paid subscription. For more information, visit www.incharacter.org.
The John Templeton Foundation was established in 1987 by international investment manager Sir John Templeton. In the area of the human sciences, the foundation supports programs, competitions, publications and research studies that explore a range of virtues and positive human strengths, such as generosity, altruistic love, forgiveness and gratitude. The foundation also supports research and education on the benefits of entrepreneurship and the enhancement of individual freedom and free markets.