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Sargent Shriver and the Citizen of the World Award
On behalf of the Global Explorers Board of Directors and staff, I am proud to announce that R. Sargent Shriver is the recipient of the Global Explorers 2011 Citizen of the World Award for Lifetime Achievement. The award is an honor bestowed annually upon individuals whose actions and accomplishments with youth have exemplified the principles of responsible global citizenship. The Citizen of the World Award for Lifetime Achievement has previously been given to Dr. Jane Goodall and pioneering blind climber Erik Weihenmayer. For 2011, the honor will be bestowed posthumously on Sargent Shriver who died on January 18, 2011.
Sargent Shriver’s life is an example for all who seek to build bridges of peaceful understanding between people of different backgrounds, countries, and abilities. As someone who worked at the Peace Corps, I had the opportunity to witness up-close and contribute to the ongoing legacy of our founding director’s work. He was a personal inspiration to me while I worked at Peace Corps and continues to be one for all of us at Global Explorers. I cannot think of another person who embodies the term ‘Citizen of the World’ better than Sargent Shriver. We believe this award will inspire many more young people to learn Sargent Shriver’s story and motivate them on their respective journeys toward becoming global citizens. In honor of Sargent Shriver’s achievements, Global Explorers will work with Peace Corps to integrate Peace Corps principles throughout our programming in 2011.
The award will be presented to the Shriver family at our annual event in Colorado in November 2011. Interested in learning more about the event? Contact David Shurna, Executive Director, at [email protected].
About Sargent Shriver
Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr. was born November 9, 1915 in Westminster, Maryland. Shriver enrolled at Yale University in 1934. During college, Shriver was the senior editor of the Yale Daily News. Shriver enrolled in Yale Law School in 1938, receiving his L.L.B. in 1941. Shriver went on to serve five years in active duty in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
In 1953, Shriver married Eunice Kennedy, sister of John F. Kennedy. Shriver’s commitment to public service made him one of the most effective leaders of John F. Kennedy’s New Frontier and Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society in the 1960s. He inspired, directed, or founded numerous social programs and organizations, including Head Start, VISTA, Job Corps, Community Action, Upward Bound, Foster Grandparents, Special Olympics, the National Center on Poverty Law, Legal Services, and the Peace Corps, serving as the program’s first director under President Kennedy. Shriver also ran the War on Poverty during Johnson’s tenure as president. Shriver served as U.S. ambassador to France from 1968 to 1970.
In 1972, Shriver was nominated by the Democratic Party as a candidate for Vice President with presidential candidate Senator George McGovern. In 1978, Shriver began the Kennedy Institute of Ethics “Trialogue” between leaders of Christian, Jewish and Muslim religions, the first such forum for discussion since medieval Spain.
Shriver went on to become President of Special Olympics in 1984 and was appointed Chairman of the Board of Special Olympics in 1990. Under Shriver’s leadership, Special Olympics greatly expanded its international sports programs for young people around the world.
On August 8, 1994, Sargent Shriver received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Clinton, the United States’ highest civilian honor, as recognition for his lifetime of public service. Shriver died on January 18, 2011, but his legacy lives on in the many organizations he propelled forward, and in the lives of his five children: Robert Sargent Shriver III, Maria Shriver, Timothy Shriver, Mark Shriver, and Anthony Shriver.
By: Tom Lillig, GEx Board Member and Director of Account Management at Stone Ward
