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