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JOHN
TEMPLETON
FOUNDATION
General Information |
THE FOUNDATION FUNDING INITIATIVES |
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THE BEGINNING OF THE
JOHN TEMPLETON FOUNDATION
When he was growing up in rural Winchester, Tennessee, renowned international investment manager John Marks Templeton considered becoming a missionary. He eventually turned his considerable talents to the business world where he founded the Templeton Growth Fund, one of the world's most successful mutual funds. Throughout his business and financial career, Templeton's early interest in spiritual issues remained a strong influence on his life. Noting how advances in scientific thought dramatically changed the world, he believed advances in religious thought could have a similar impact. In 1972, he established the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion to recognize frontier thinking in religion that contributes to humanity's understanding of God, spirituality and the universe. The annual prize is currently worth more than $1 million.
Sir John Templeton was knighted in 1987 by Queen Elizabeth for
his philanthropic efforts. That same year he established the
John Templeton Foundation to explore spiritual and moral progress
through the use of scientific methods. The Foundation works closely
with scientists, theologians, medical professionals, philosophers
and scholars to:
Sir John Templeton retired from investment management in 1992, and the Foundation's work is now his full-time priority. In 1995, his son, Dr John M. Templeton, Jr., left his successful surgical practice to serve full time as president of the Foundation. The Foundation's distinguished Board of Trustees includes former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury William E. Simon and the Rev. Bryant Kirkland, former president of the American Bible Society. Nobel Prize winner Charles Townes, financier Laurance Rockefeller and noted physicist Freeman Dyson are among the members of the Foundation's Board of Advisors.
SELECTED PROGRAMS
Since its inception, the John Templeton Foundation has more than
doubled the number of programs it supports, providing critical
resources to the growing community of leaders striving for spiritual
and scientific progress. The Foundation now funds more than 40
projects, studies, award programs and publications around the
world. These programs focus on five areas: spiritual information
through science, spirituality and health, free enterprise education,
character development, and the Templeton Prize for Progress in
Religion.
FUNDING GUIDELINES
John Templeton Foundation Grantmaking Approach
The John Templeton Foundation is a non-profit grantmaking organization. Our funding approach is distinct from most similar philanthropic organizations because we neither encourage nor generally consider unsolicited proposals. Rather, the Foundation chooses to design large-scale, cost-effective, and high-impact projects, determining the best individual or organization to administer and implement these initiatives.
Request Procedures
As a general role, the Foundation does not consider unsolicited proposals. In the event that your organizations feels strongly that their proposal may be of interest to the Foundation, and chooses to submit a proposal, please forward, via mail, two copies of the following materials to assist in our review process:
Grantmaking Restrictions
Please note that the Foundation is unable to accept any proposals electronically. The John Templeton Foundation does not generally consider requests for:
For further information on the grantmaking activities of the John Templeton Foundation, please review our recent grants or our funding initiatives.
SPIRITUAL INFORMATION THROUGH SCIENCE
The John Templeton Foundation believes a path of cooperation between the sciences and all religions
will lead humanity to a deeper understanding of the universe, the unlimited creative spirit behind it, and
our place in it. The Foundation's spiritual information through science programs include the following awards.
For more
information about these programs please view our Recent Grants.
SPIRITUALITY AND HEALTH
The John Templeton Foundation seeks to promote a deeper understanding of the influence spirituality, beliefs
and values have on human health. By promoting collaboration and clinical research into the relationship
between spirituality and health and documenting the positive medical aspects of spiritual practice, the
Foundation hopes to contribute to the reintegration of faith into modern life. The Foundation's spirituality
and health programs include the following awards. For more information about these programs, please view
our Recent Grants:
FREE ENTERPRISE
The Foundation seeks to encourage a greater appreciation of the importance of the free enterprise system
and the Western values which enable it to survive. The Foundation's free enterprise programs include:
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
Recognizing the societal importance of personal moral values, the Foundation supports programs that
advocate character and spiritual dev elopment. The Foundation's character development programs include:
THE TEMPLETON PRIZE FOR PROGRESS IN RELIGION
The Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion
(especially spiritual information through science) is awarded each year to a living person who shows
extraordinary originality in advancing humankind's understanding of God. First awarded in 1972, past
recipients include Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Chief Rabbi of Great Britain Lord Jakobovits, Reverend
Billy Graham, author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and the 1996 winner, Dr. William Bright, founder of Campus
Crusade for Christ International. Currently worth over $1 million, The Templeton Prize for Progress in
Religion is the largest annual prize awarded in the world.
FUNDING INITIATIVES
The international lecture series features leading scientists speaking on the relationship
between science and religion.
The international program awards colleges, universities and schools of theology prizes
of $10,000 ($5,000 to the instructor and $5,000 to the institution) for developing and reaching interdisciplinary
courses in science and religion. As many as 100 qualifying courses are selected each year.
Who's Who is a biographical and bibliographical reference guide published for scientists
and scholars.
This four-part educational video series and reaching guide meets the religious education requirement in
public schools in the United Kingdom. Produced in association with the BBC Open University, the series
examines both scientific and religious explanations for a range of subjects, from the life and origin of the
universe to the nature of miracles. Future
distribution of the series in Europe and North America is planned.
Three conferences explore the scientific investigation of the religious and spiritual aspects of healing in
four clinical research areas: physical illness, mental illness, addiction, and the neurophysiology of spiritual
practices.
This major interdisciplinary conference and workshop series explores the spiritual and religious
impact of new scientific perspectives on the universe. Fifteen
eminent international figures representing the major religious
traditions of the world offer insights, find common ground among
their traditions and reflect on the scientific perspectives on
the natural world. Research areas examined include physics, cosmology
and evolution, and molecular biology/genetics.
This annual program awards $2,000 prizes for exceptional published papers addressing the relationship
between theology and the natural sciences, religion and the medical sciences, and religion and the human
behavioral sciences.
The annual program awards $10,000 each to between select U.S. medical schools to develop and offer
courses that examine the integral role of faith and spirituality in patient care.
The courses examine scientific studies linking religion or spiritual practices to medical outcomes.
The courses are offered for continuing medical education credit through Harvard Medical School and the
Mind/Body Medical Institute of Deaconess Hospital in Boston.
The Templeton Honor Rolls for Education in a Free Society.
This award series recognizes outstanding colleges and universities, departments
and special programs, professors, and scholarly books and textbooks for their excellence in communicating
the interdependence of political freedom, the market economy and the moral principles that sustain
a free society.
The contest awards prizes to junior high and high school students for writing 500-word essays on the
spiritual "laws of life" they have identified through religious teachings or their own personal
experience. Initiated in Sir John Templeton's home state of Tennessee, the program is expanding throughout
the U.S. and abroad. A Laws of Life manual and video are available to assist in organizing the contest.
The Honor Roll recognizes colleges and universities for innovation and leadership in promoting character
development among their students. Essays from Honor Roll institutions are published as a college guide and
distributed free of charge to guidance counselors and libraries across the country.
