THE TEMPLETON PRIZE honors individuals 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.

Templeton Prize  

Awarded forOutstanding contributions in affirming life’s spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works
CountryUnited States
Presented byTempleton Foundation
Reward(s)£1.1 million (2019)
First awarded1973
Currently held byMarcelo Gleiser
Websitetempletonprize.org

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
1989George MacLeodFounder of the Iona Community
1990Baba AmteDeveloper of modern communities for people suffering from leprosy
1990Charles 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 Swadhyay Movement
1998Sir Sigmund SternbergPhilanthropist; founder of the Three Faith Forum
1999Ian BarbourProfessor emeritus of science, technology and society, Carleton College
2000Freeman DysonProfessor emeritus, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
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, sociologist
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