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John Templeton Foundation
The John Templeton Foundation was established in 1987 by renowned investor and philanthropist Sir John Templeton; it is usually referred to simply as the Templeton Foundation. The mission of the Templeton Foundation (from its website), is:
The Foundation’s motto is ‘how little we know, how eager to learn’ [1]. In accordance with its key founding principle, the Foundation has a firm commitment and focus on rigorous scientific research. One of the main activities of the Templeton Foundation is grantmaking. According to the Foundation, it gives away about $60 million a year in research grants and programs [2]. Grants are made in core funding areas that allign with the Foundation‘s mission statement and Charter. Typically, grants are approved in a process that incorporates scientific peer review. The Foundation funds numerous high-level scientific research projects, usually by means of international competitions to which research teams from large universities apply. Grants are subject to standard peer review and approved by an international jury. For example, with the cooperation of the University of Cambridge, 18 grants were recently awarded for research on the origin and evolution of life and anthropology [3] Another project has attributed 30 grants for research in the area of physics [4] Another program has attributed 14 grants in the area of cosmology [5] ActivitiesThe Foundation splits up its main activities into the following areas: • Natural Sciences
Scientific study of matters that seek to advance discovery in areas engaging “life’s biggest questions” is a major area of activity for the Foundation. These areas include questions on the laws of nature and the nature of the universe [6]. It supports work principally by scientists, but also collaborations between scientists and other academics, such as theologians and philosophers. Many of these projects attempt to answer some of the big metaphysical questions, such as ‘Why there is something rather than nothing? What does it mean to be human? What is the nature of free will? One example of the work funded by the Foundation has been taking place at the Oxford Centre for Science of the Mind [7]. In a project led by Baroness Susan Greenfield, scientists have been using hi-tech brain scans to examine how personal belief physically affects our brains. Part of the program of work has involved scientists talking to theologians to get a better insight into whether different people’s brains respond differently to the beliefs they do or don’t hold. Commenting on the project, Baroness Greenfield has said, “For the first time to actually have a theologian talking to brain imaging experts, which we have, will give us some insight. It won’t give us all the answers immediately, but what is wonderful is it will be a start.” [8] Natural Sciences – the Humble Approach Initiative The Foundation is the sponsor of the ‘Humble Approach Initiative’. Based upon its founder’s maxim that ‘humility is a gateway to greater understanding and opens doors to progress’ [9], the initiative holds regular symposiums around the world that bring together small groups of scholars and scientists to focus on a particular theme within a interdisciplinary framework [10]. Scientific symposiums under the banner of the ‘Humble Approach Initiative’ have resulted in the following published books: Universe or Multiverse[11]; Evolution and the Capacity for Commitment[12]; The Link between Religion and Health: Psycho-neuroimmunology and the Faith Factor [13]; In Whom We Live and Move and Have Our Being: Panentheistic Reflections on God’s Presence in a Scientific World[14]; The Far Future Universe: Eschatology from a Cosmic Perspective [15]; From Cells to Souls – and Beyond: Changing Portraits of Human Nature [16]; The Work of Love: Creation as Kenosis [17]; The Psychology of Gratitude [18]; Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment[19]; Many Worlds: The New Universe, Extraterrestrial Life & The Theological Implications[20]; From Complexity to Life: On the Emergency of Life and Meaning [21]; Human Sciences Examination of the spiritual nature of the individual is another core area of activity for the Foundation. According to the Foundation, Sir John Templeton has always held a strong curiosity and belief in the ability of science to help examine the nature of ‘spiritual principles’ such as altruism, creativity and gratitude [22]. Templeton-funded Human Sciences projects draw together a range of experts from anthropologists and psychologists to economists and educationalists. In 2001, the Templeton Foundation helped to launch the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love, [23] with an $8 million grant. Defined by Sir John Templeton, “Unlimited love means total constant love for every person with no exception” [24]. The Institute has initiated nearly 50 scientific research projects across the United States, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Princeton. Philosophy & Theology A new initiative of the Foundation seeks to advance discovery in areas that include philosophical and theological questions, including ethics and moral philosophy, the philosophy of mathematics and logic, and the philosophy and history of science [25] One recent grant in this area supported an international symposium in Vienna, Austria, entitled “Horizons of Truth: Logic, Foundations of Mathematics, and the Quest for Understanding the Nature of Knowledge,” celebrating the 100th birthday of mathematician Kurt Gödel [26] Character Development The Foundation supports ‘Character Development’ programs. The goal of this activity is, according to the Foundation, to “reinforce positive values such as honesty, compassion, self-discipline and respect, and support innovative research on the importance of character”. Two initiatives in this program include the Purpose Prize [27] and the Laws of Life Essay Contest [28]. Freedom & Free Enterprise A new area of activity for the Templeton Foundation is the funding of research projects and teaching programs that promote enterprise-based solutions to poverty. The Foundation claims it will be providing upwards of $25 million annually to these projects by 2010 [29]. It recently awarded a total of $1.5 million to three initiatives to help promote public understanding of how entrepreneurship and market reforms are alleviating poverty in developing countries [30]. One of the recipients was Alvaro Vargas Llosa, author of Liberty for Latin America, who is using the grant to examine how market-based institutions are helping to alleviate poverty in Latin America and in other emerging nations [31]. Another Templeton research grant in this area funded a two-year project, “Private Schools Serving the Educational Needs of the Poor: A Global Research and Dissemination Project,” under the direction of Professor James Tooley of the University of Newcastle [32] Findings suggest that the root causes of poverty can be best addressed when people have a stake in their own educational destiny. Gifted Education The Templeton Foundation has a program of activity to help encourage young people with ‘exceptional talents’ particularly in mathematics and science [33]. For example, one Foundation grant helped the Center for Talented Youth at Johns Hopkins University launch Cogito.org [34], an online community website that allows talented young people to form relationships with peers from around the world. Templeton PrizeIn addition to its central activity funding scientific studies, the Foundation awards the annual $1.5 million Templeton Prize [35] to the living individual who best exemplifies "trying various ways for discoveries and breakthroughs to expand human perceptions of divinity and to help in the acceleration of divine creativity." In 2007 the Templeton Prize was awarded to Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor (philosopher). Taylor is known for his belief that Western secular society does not satisfy the natural human desire for meaning. Commenting on the Templeton Prize award to Taylor, the United Kingdom’s Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks said, “If there is such a thing as a saint in a secular age, he deserves that title.” [36] Two recent prize winners were Charles H. Townes, Professor in the Graduate School at the University of California, Berkeley, who shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1964 [37] for his investigations into the properties of microwaves and his co-invention of the laser [38], and theoretical cosmologist George F.R. Ellis of the University of Cape Town [39], who advocates “balancing the rationality of evidence-based science with the causal effect of forces beyond the explanation of hard science, including issues such as aesthetics, ethics, metaphysics, and meaning” [40] The prize was first awarded in 1973 and is adjusted to always be slightly higher than the Nobel Prize. In 2007 the prize was $1.5million. Past reciepients of the prize have also included Mother Teresa, Billy Graham, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Baba Amte. Other prizesIn addition to its main activities and the Templeton Prize, the Foundation also awards many other prizes. In 2004, for example, the Foundation presented the makers of the controversial movie The Passion of the Christ with a $50,000 "Epiphany Prize for the Most Inspirational Movie". In 2007 the Epiphany Prize went to Cheers and Laughter [41]. The Purpose Prize, sponsored by Civic Ventures with grants from The Atlantic Philanthropies and the John Templeton Foundation, annually provides five awards of $100,000 and ten awards of $10,000 to people over 60 who are taking on society’s biggest challenges. The inaugural Purpose Prizes in 2006 went to Conchy Bretos, Charles Dey, Marilyn Gaston and Gayle Porter, W. Wilson Goode, Sr., and Judea Pearl and Akbar Ahmed [42]. It also awarded writer August Turak with an earlier $100,000 "Power of Purpose" prize. A full list of prizes the Foundation awards yearly can be found on their website[43]. Other detailsIndividuals associated with Templeton-funded initiatives or who have recieved support from the Templeton Foundation include Paul Davies, Max Tegmark, John D. Barrow, Stephen Post, Martin Seligman, Harold Koenig, Laurence Iannaccone, Nicholas Colangello, and Alexander Astin. Organizations that are associated or which have revieved grants include Civic Ventures, Junior Achievement, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Rotary International, and many major research universities, including Yale University, Harvard University, MIT, the California Institute of Technology, Oxford University, Princeton University, and Cambridge University, among others. MediaTransparency lists grant receiving institutions for 1998 to 2004; the top five are Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences ($23 million), National Institute for Healthcare Research ($8 million), Philadelphia Center for Religion & Science ($4 million), Metanexus Institute on Religion and Science ($4 million), and Science and Spirit Resources, Inc. ($4 million)[44]. The Foundation also has media presence. It runs its own publisher, Templeton Foundation Press and publishes the periodical “In Character: A Journal of Everyday Virtues” [45]. It is published three times a year; each issue has a theme such as “thrift” or “purpose” and, in Spring 2007, “honesty.” ManagementThe "day-to-day" management of the foundation since 1995 is by president John M. Templeton, Jr., M.D., the son of its founder. John Templeton, Jr. is an evangelical Christian and as an independently wealthy individual, is active in philanthropy which is outside of the mandate of the Templeton Foundation itself. He is the chairman of Let Freedom Ring, Inc., a 502(c)(4) non-profit organization which ‘promotes constituional government, economic freedom and traditional values [46] group that raises funds for conservative causes[47]. Templeton Jr has always maintained that his own personal religious beliefs do not affect his ability to administer the Foundation in accordance with the wishes of his father [48]. The Templeton Foundation has also gone to great lengths to stress that it is non-political with no bias towards any one faith [49]. Political orientationLike all 501c3 organizations, the Templeton Foundation is prohibited from engaging directly in political activity. However, controversy exists. A 1997 article in Slate Magazine noted that the Templeton Foundation had given significant financial support to groups, causes and individuals considered conservative, including gifts to Gertrude Himmelfarb, Milton Friedman, Walter E. Williams, Julian Lincoln Simon and Mary Lefkowitz, and referred to John Templeton, Sr., as a "conservative sugar daddy"[50]. The Foundation also has a history of supporting the Cato Institute, a libertarian think-tank, as well as projects at major research centers and universities that explore themes related to free-market ideology, such as Hernando de Soto‘s Instituto Libertad Y Democracia and the X Prize Foundation. The "Intelligent Design" controversyIn addition to suggestions that the foundation has a conservative/libertarian bent, controversy exists over the foundation‘s support for intelligent design proponents. In 1996 the foundation awarded a prize to an Australian cosmologist who supports intelligent design, in 1999 provided a grant to the Discovery Institute[51], and has also funded the production of "The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos is Designed for Discovery", a 2004 book supporting intelligent design by Guillermo Gonzalez, a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute [52]. In 2005, the foundation disputed suggestions that they promote intelligent design[53], saying that they may support individual projects that support intelligent design, but that they do not support the "intelligent design movement."[54] The foundation has also funded critics of the movement. A New York Times article said the foundation asked intelligent design proponents to submit proposals for actual research and quoted Charles L. Harper Jr., senior vice president at the Templeton Foundation, as saying "They never came in" and that while he was skeptical from the beginning, other foundation officials were initially intrigued and later grew disillusioned. "From the point of view of rigor and intellectual seriousness, the intelligent design people don‘t come out very well in our world of scientific review," he said.[55] The Templeton Foundation has since rejected the Discovery Institute‘s entreaties for more funding, Harper stated. "They‘re political - that for us is problematic," and that while Discovery has "always claimed to be focused on the science," "what I see is much more focused on public policy, on public persuasion, on educational advocacy and so forth."?"[56][57] In 2007 in the LA Times Pamela Thompson, Vice President for Communications of the Templeton Foundation wrote "We do not believe that the science underpinning the intelligent-design movement is sound, we do not support research or programs that deny large areas of well-documented scientific knowledge, and the foundation is a nonpolitical entity and does not engage in or support political movements."[58] The same day the Wall Street Journal also included a letter from the same Pamela Thompson making much the same point: "The foundation doesn‘t support the political movement known as ‘Intelligent Design.‘ This is for three reasons: We don‘t believe the science underpinning the ‘Intelligent Design‘ movement is sound, we don‘t support research or programs that deny large areas of well-documented scientific knowledge and the foundatioon is a non-political entity and does not engage in, or suport, political movements." [59] In February 2007 the Discovery Institute began a campaign to counter the unfavorable statements of Harper and Thompson citing a "report" published on the pro-Intelligent Design wiki, ResearchID.[60] This campaign quoted clarifications from Charles Harper of the Templeton Foundation denouncing intelligent design and distancing the Templeton Foundation from the intelligent design movement, notably a clarification by Harper that a Wall Street Journal article published "false information" that "mention[ed] the John Templeton Foundation in a way suggesting that the Foundation has been a concerted patron and sponsor of the so-called Intelligent Design ("ID") position,"[61] ResearchID and Discovery Institute claimed that this was indicative of larger errors and bias: "The media has misrepresented the record of the intelligent design research community."[62] Critics of intelligent design responded by noting that though Harper appears to have "confirmed that while the first statement about a formal call for applications was false, the real point of the article, that ID advocates don‘t do very well in terms of actual research and scientific review, remains true and valid" a point the Discovery Institute glosses over.[63] The Templeton Foundation posted a response to the Discovery Institute‘s campaign, saying:
Relations with the scientific communityRelations with the scientific community are broadly very strong. The Foundation counts among its many supporters such scientific figures such as: Theoretical physicist and cosmologist Paul Davies, professor at Arizona State University and founder of Beyond: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science [65]; Biologist Baroness Susan Greenfield, Director of the Royal Institution of Great Britain [66]; Geneticist Francis Collins,director of the National Human Genome Research Institute [67]; Paleontologist Simon Conway Morris. The supportive stance of religious thinkers has led to criticism from some members of the scientific community; Sean M. Carroll a cosmologist and atheist from the University of Chicago wrote, in describing his self-recusal from a conference he discovered was funded by the Foundation, that "the entire purpose of the Templeton Foundation is to blur the line between straightforward science and explicitly religious activity, making it seem like the two enterprises are part of one big undertaking. It‘s all about appearances." But he also said, "I appreciate that the Templeton Foundation is actually, in its own way, quite pro-science, and is not nearly as objectionable as the anti-scientific crackpots at the Discovery Institute."[68] In his book The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins (an evolutionary biologist) repeatedly criticizes the Templeton Foundation, referring to the Templeton Prize as "a very large sum of money given...usually to a scientist who is prepared to say something nice about religion." |
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