Templeton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion

Updated September 9, 2022 | Infoplease Staff

The Templeton Prize, an award to encourage progress in religion, was established in 1972 by Sir John Templeton, a Tennessee-born financial analyst and Presbyterian layman, and first presented in 1973. Its value has increased over the years to nearly $1 million, depending on exchange rates.


1973
Mother Teresa of Calcutta, founder, the Missionaries of Charity
1974
Brother Roger, founder and prior, the Taize Community in France
1975
Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, former president of India and Oxford Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics
1976
H. E. Leon Joseph Cardinal Suenens, Archbishop of Malines-Brussels
1977
Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare Movement, Italy
1978
Prof. Thomas F. Torrance, president of International Academy of Religion and Sciences, Scotland
1979
Nikkyo Niwano, founder of Rissho Kosel Kai and World Conferences on Religion and Peace, Japan
1980
Prof. Ralph Wendell Burhoe, founder and editor of Zygon, Chicago
1981
Dame Cicely Saunders, originator of Modern Hospice Movement, England
1982
The Rev. Dr. Billy Graham, founder, The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association
1983
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, U.S.
1984
The Rev. Michael Bourdeaux, founder, Keston College, England
1985
Sir Alister Hardy, Oxford, England
1986
Rev. Dr. James McCord, Princeton, N.J.
1987
Rev. Professor Stanley L. Jaki, Princeton, N.J.
1988
Dr. Inamullah Khan, secretary-general, World Muslim Congress
1989
The Very Reverend Lord MacLeod of the Iona Community, Scotland, and Professor Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker, Starnberg, West Germany
1990
Baba Amte, India, and Professor Charles Birch, Sydney, Australia
1991
The Rt. Hon. Lord Jakobovits, chief rabbi of Great Britain and the Commonwealth
1992
Dr. Kyung-Chik Han, founder, Seoul's Young Nak Presbyterian Church
1993
Charles W. Colson, founder, Prison Fellowship, Virginia
1994
Michael Novak, scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, Washington, D.C.
1995
Dr. Paul Davies, professor, University of Adelaide, Australia
1996
William R. “Bill” Bright, president and founder, Campus Crusade for Christ International, California
1997
Pandurang Shastri Athavale, founder and leader of Swadhyaya, a spiritual movement credited with improving the lives of 20 million people
1998
Sir Sigmund Sternberg, founder and chairman, Sternberg Centre for Judaism, London
1999
Ian Barbour, professor emeritus, Carleton College, Minnesota
2000
Freeman J. Dyson, professor emeritus, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, N.J.
2001
Arthur Peacocke, physical biochemist and Anglican priest, Oxford, England
2002
John C. Polkinghorne, mathematical physicist and Anglican priest, Cambridge, England
2003
Holmes Rolston III, professor of philosophy and Presbyterian minister, Colorado State University
2004
George F. R. Ellis, professor of applied mathematics, University of Cape Town, South Africa
2005
Charles Hard Townes, professor of physics, University of California, Berkeley, California
2006
John D. Barrow, professor of mathematical sciences, University of Cambridge, England
2007
Charles Taylor, professor of law and philosophy, Northwestern University, Illinois
2008
Michael Heller, professor of philosophy, Pontifical Academy of Theology, Cracow, Poland

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