The Philanthropy Roundtable is pleased to announce Charles G. Koch as the 2011 recipient of the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership. As part of the Simon Prize recognition, a charity of his selection will receive a $250,000 grant.
Charles Koch is chairman and chief executive officer of Koch Industries Inc. and founder of the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation. For more than 40 years, he has been at the forefront of strategic investment in ideas, think tanks, and academic research. He has, for instance, provided long-term support to several scholars who went on to win the Nobel Prize in Economics.
The principle that has governed Mr. Koch’s philanthropy is very simple. He wants to sustain and strengthen America as a land of freedom and prosperity. He wants to give others the same opportunity to succeed that he has had. Having benefited from the capitalist system, he wants others to prosper in the same way.
The Philanthropy Roundtable is greatly honored to have been asked by the William E. Simon Foundation to administer the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership. The purpose of the prize is to highlight the power of philanthropy to promote positive change and to inspire others to support charities that achieve genuine results. The prize is intended to honor living philanthropists who have shown exemplary leadership through their own charitable giving, either directly or through foundations they have created. The prize honors the ideals and principles which guided the many philanthropic initiatives of William E. Simon, the late financier, philanthropist, and Secretary of the Treasury. These ideals include personal responsibility, resourcefulness, volunteerism, scholarship, individual freedom, faith in God, and helping people to help themselves.
Additional reading:
- James K. Glassman’s cover story for Philanthropy on Charles Koch
- Adam Meyerson discusses how Charles Koch applies his principles of Market-Based Management to his philanthropy.