Brazilian physicist and astronomer Marcelo Gleiser has been awarded the 2019 Templeton Prize, given by the John Templeton Foundation annually to an individual “who has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life’s spiritual dimension, whether through insight, discovery, or practical works.”
- Mr. Gleiser won the award worth $1.4 million, for his work blending science and spirituality.
- The theoretical physicist is of the view that science and religion are not enemies. Mr. Gleiser has described science as a spiritual quest to understand the origins of the universe and life on earth.
- ‘Gleiser, 60, the Appleton Professor of Natural Philosophy and a professor of physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, has earned international acclaim through his books, essays, blogs, TV documentaries, and conferences that present science as a spiritual quest to understand the origins of the universe and of life on Earth’ said the John Templeton Foundation .
- A native of Brazil, where his books are bestsellers and his television series draw audiences in the millions, Gleiser becomes the first Latin American to be awarded the Templeton Prize.
- Since its establishment in 1972, the prize has recognized Nobel Peace Prize laureates, spiritual leaders, dissident intellectuals and most recently, the Jordanian king.
TEMPLETON PRIZE WINNERS
- Marcelo Gleiser (2019)
- King Abdullah II of Jordan (2018)
- Alvin Plantinga (2017)
- Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (2016)
- Jean Vanier (2015)
- Tomáš Halík (2014)
- Desmond Tutu (2013)
- The 14th Dalai Lama (2012)
- Martin J. Rees (2011)
- Francisco J. Ayala (2010)
- Bernard d’Espagnat (2009)
- Michael Heller (2008)
- Charles Taylor (2007)
- John D. Barrow (2006)
- Charles H. Townes (2005)
- George F. R. Ellis (2004)
- Holmes Rolston III (2003)
- John C. Polkinghorne (2002)
- Arthur Peacocke (2001)
- Freeman J. Dyson (2000)
- Ian Graeme Barbour (1999)
- Sigmund Sternberg (1998)
- Pandurang Shastri Athavale (1997)
- William R. “Bill” Bright (1996)
- Paul Davies (1995)
- Michael Novak (1994)
- Charles W. Colson (1993)
- Kyung-Chik Han (1992)
- Lord Jakobovits (1991)
- Baba Amte (1990 ; awarded jointly)
- L. Charles Birch (1990 ; awarded jointly)
- Lord MacLeod (1989 ; awarded jointly)
- Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker (1989 ; awarded jointly)
- Inamullah Khan (1988) Stanley L. Jaki (1987)
- James McCord (1986)
- Alister Hardy (1985)
- Michael Bourdeaux (1984)
- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1983)
- Billy Graham (1982)
- Cicely Saunders (1981)
- Ralph Wendell Burhoe (1980)
- Nikkyo Niwano (1979)
- Thomas F. Torrance (1978)
- Chiara Lubich (1977)
- Leon Joseph Cardinal Suenens (1976)
- Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1975)
- Brother Roger (1974)
- Mother Teresa (1973)
