World's leading philanthropists to be honored with Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy

"Nobel Prize of Philanthropy" awarded in ceremony at Scottish Parliament

EDINBURGH, Scotland, Oct. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The recipients of the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy receive their medals at a prestigious ceremony at the Scottish Parliament today (Thursday, October 17).

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131017/DC99525)

The biannual award, often referred to as the "Nobel Prize of philanthropy," recognizes those who use their private wealth and business acumen for public good.

This year's recipients are Scotland's first home-grown billionaire, entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter; Dr. James Harris Simons, the American mathematician who founded one of the world's most successful hedge fund companies, along with his wife, economist Dr Marilyn Simons; and Dr. Dmitry Zimin, the founder of the second-largest telecom business in Russia. The Wolfson family, founders of the Wolfson Foundation, and Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development and one of Forbes's 100 Most Powerful Women, are also medal recipients.  The Wolfson's medal will be accepted by Dame Janet Wolfson de Botton, DBE, chair of the Wolfson Foundation and granddaughter of the Foundation's founder Sir Isaac Wolfson. Her Highness's daughter Her Excellency Sheikha Hind bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani will accept her medal on her behalf.

Now in its 12^th year, this year's awards ceremony will include a keynote speech by Pierre Omidyar, the entrepreneur and philanthropist best known as the founder and chairman of eBay, himself a recipient of the 2011 Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy. The event will be hosted by broadcaster and presenter, Kirsty Young.

The ceremony will be held at the Scottish Parliament and is only the second time the biannual event has been held outside the United States—both times in Scotland—having been last hosted by the Scottish Parliament in 2005.  This year's event also marks the centenary of the establishment of the Carnegie UK Trust.

Angus Hogg, Chair of the Carnegie UK Trust, organizers of this year's award ceremony, said:

"Today the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy is the most celebrated award in global philanthropy, designed to honor its namesake, Andrew Carnegie. The award is inspired by his desire to reinvest his wealth in a way that would, in his words, 'do real and permanent good in this world.'

"Those receiving this year's award have wholeheartedly embraced his philosophy. Their philanthropic efforts span education, science, entrepreneurship, and the arts. We are deeply honored to be presenting these individuals with this medal and congratulate them once again on their significant tributes to great causes across the globe."

Speaking ahead of the event, the presiding officer, the Rt. Hon. Tricia Marwick, MSP, said:

"Earlier this week, the Parliament opened an exhibition exploring the legacy of Andrew Carnegie's philanthropy over the past 100 years.  Today, we are welcoming modern philanthropists to our Chamber, people who have followed in Carnegie's footsteps and used their wealth to make a positive difference to society. I am sure Carnegie would have enjoyed today's ceremony and I hope the stories of the medalists will help inspire the next generation of philanthropists."

For further information, please contact:

Grayling, on behalf of the Carnegie UK Trust: Kirsty Anderson, Martin Allen, or Billy Partridge on [email protected] or [email protected] or 0131 226 2363

Or

The Scottish Parliament: Kerry Teakle:  0131 348 538 or [email protected]

Notes to editor:
Medalists are selected by an international selection committee comprising representatives from six major Carnegie institutions. This year's selection committee includes: Chairman Vartan Gregorian (President, Carnegie Corporation of New York); William Thomson (Honorary President, Carnegie UK Trust and great grandson of Andrew Carnegie); Jessica Mathews (President, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace); Andrew Miller (Secretary, Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland); Mark Laskow (President, Carnegie Hero Fund Commission); Richard Meserve (President, Carnegie Institute of Science); and Martyn Evans (Chief Executive Carnegie UK Trust).

2013 Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy recipients:

Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser
Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser plays a key role in supporting Qatar's National Vision—a far-reaching agenda to transform Qatar into a thriving, knowledge-based society by 2030.  Sheikha Moza is a driving force behind education and social reforms in her country aimed at preparing Qataris to compete in the global economy while building strong families and communities at home. She is also spearheading projects throughout the world to promote peace and human development. 

She serves as chairperson of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, a private nonprofit organization founded in 1995. Her Highness also serves as the vice chair of the Supreme Council of Health and served as the vice chair of the Supreme Education Council from 2006 to 2012, enacting major, top-down reforms of Qatar's public schools and healthcare system.  In addition, Her Highness is chair of the Sidra Medical and Research Centre, a new training and research hospital that is envisaged to become a leading institution for women and children's specialty care.

Sheikha Moza has launched multiple projects including the International Fund for Higher Education in Iraq, the Silatech initiative to address the growing challenge of youth employment in the Middle East and North Africa, and Education Above All, a policy research and advocacy organization concerned with a single policy area: protecting the right to education in conflict-affected areas. Her Highness has played an active role with the United Nations for many years, including an appointment in 2003 as UNESCO's Special Envoy for Basic and Higher Education; in 2008 she was appointed by the secretary general of the UN as Alliance of Civilizations Ambassador; and in 2010 she became a member of the UN Millennium Development Goals Advocacy Group with a special emphasis on universal primary education.

Dame Janet Wolfson de Botton, DBE
Dame Janet Wolfson de Botton has been chairman of the Wolfson Foundation since 2010. She is the daughter of Lord Wolfson of Marylebone who, with his parents, established the Foundation in 1955. Dame Janet is a collector of contemporary art and was a director of Christie's International between 1994 and 1998, trustee of Tate from 1992 to 2002, and the chairman of Council for Tate Modern from 1999 to 2002. In 1996 she donated 60 contemporary works of art to Tate—a gift which has been described as being "crucial to the development of Tate Modern."

The Wolfson Foundation supports and promotes excellence in the fields of science and medicine, health, education, and the arts and humanities. All funding is based on expert peer review and the Board comprises family members and academic experts. Over £750 million (some £1.25 billion in real terms) has been awarded in grants to some 10,000 projects over the last 58 years, including £110 million in the last three years alone.

Dmitry Borisovich Zimin
Honorary president of Joint Stock Company VimpelCom (trademark "Beeline"), Dr. Zimin played the leading role in organizing the company as an efficient and rapidly developing enterprise and the first Russian Federation company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (November 15, 1996).

Dr. Zimin is a 1957 graduate of the Moscow Aviation Institute. For 35 years Dr. Zimin occupied leading scientific positions in one of the USSR's military-industrial establishment institutes. He received his scientific degrees of Candidate of Technical Sciences, corresponding to Ph.D. (1963) and Doctor of Technical Sciences, the highest scientific degree in Russia (1984).

Dr. Zimin is a winner of the Scientific Prize of the Soviet Academy of Sciences (1965) and the Russian Federation State Prize (1993).  He founded VimpelCom and served as the president and chief executive officer from 1992 until May 2001. In 2001 Dr. Zimin established the Dynasty Foundation, whose principal purpose is the backing and popularization of Russian academic fundamental science. 

James H. Simons and Marilyn H. Simons
The Simons Foundation is an organization dedicated to advancing the frontiers of research in mathematics and the basic sciences.  Jim Simons chairs the Foundation and Marilyn Simons is its president.  The Foundation's philanthropic activities include a major research initiative on the causes of autism, and the establishment of an institute for research in mathematics and theoretical physics.  The Foundation is particularly interested in the growing interface between the physical and life sciences and has established and endowed several such research programs at universities and institutions both in the United States and abroad. Jim Simons is board chair of Renaissance Technologies LLC, a highly quantitative investment firm, from which he retired in 2009 after founding the company and serving as its CEO for over 30 years.  Previously he was chairman of the mathematics department at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.  Jim Simons is also the founder and chairman of Math for America, a nonprofit organization with a mission to significantly improve math education in our nation's public schools. He serves as trustee of Brookhaven National Laboratory, the Institute for Advanced Study, Rockefeller University, and the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley.  He is also a member of the board of the MIT Corporation and chair emeritus of the Stony Brook Foundation.

Marilyn Simons has actively championed and worked on behalf of many nonprofit organizations in New York City and her native Long Island. She is currently vice chairman of the board of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. In addition, she has been involved in improving academic options for children with special needs and youth in underserved communities. She is treasurer and former president of the Learning Spring School, a New York City school for children with diagnoses on the autism spectrum. She is also a member of the board of trustees at the East Harlem Tutorial Program, an after-school program in New York City.

Sir Tom Hunter
Sir Tom Hunter was knighted in 2005 for services to entrepreneurship and philanthropy. A long-term advocate of "giving back," Tom has championed the cause of philanthropy in Europe.

The son of a local shop owner, Tom started his first business selling sports shoes from the back of a van with a £5,000 loan from his dad, building this business into Europe's largest independent sports retailer and eventually selling it in 1998 for £290 million. Tom and his wife, Lady Marion Hunter, went on to establish The Hunter Foundation (THF). At the core of their philanthropy are two key principles—that philanthropy is not a substitute for government investment and that the poorest of the poor require a "hand up" not a "hand out."

In the UK, investments tend toward partnerships with government in enterprise and entrepreneurial initiatives, typically in a "pilot, prove, adopt" mode where THF deploys risk capital against key performance indicators for innovative programs. If proven, the government adopts the funding and program. In 2000 THF endowed the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship at Strathclyde to support research and teaching in entrepreneurship across the university and Scotland as a whole. In turn the Foundation worked actively in schools, colleges, and universities, and continues to do so, to support enterprise and entrepreneurship throughout the education system.

THF has also invested in large-scale campaigning on major global issues, having underwritten the Make Poverty History campaign and Live 8.  Internationally, THF has in large part focused on partnering with the Clinton Foundation in a joint endeavor, the Clinton Hunter Development Initiative (CHDI) to develop in partnership with government innovative solutions to support country growth.

Previous winners of the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy:

2001
Walter Annenberg and Leonore Annenberg
Brooke Astor
Irene Diamond
The Gates Family
The Rockefeller Family
George Soros
Ted Turner

2003
Kazuo Inamori
The Sainsbury Family

2005
His Highness the Aga Khan
The Cadbury Family
Tom Farmer
Agnus Gund
The Hewlett Family
The Packard Family

2007
Eli Broad
The Heinz Family
The Mellon Family
The Tata Family

2009
Michael R. Bloomberg
The Koc Family
Betty Moore and Gordon Moore
Joan Weill and Sanford Weill

2011
The Crown Family
The Danforth Family
Fiona and Stanley Druckenmiller
Fred Kavli
Evelyn and Leonard Lauder
Jo Carole and Ronald Lauder
Li Ka-shing
Pamela and Pierre Omidyar
The Pew Family
The Pritzker Family

SOURCE Carnegie Corporation of New York