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DELTA
AIR LINES, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA CREATE INTERNATIONAL PRIZE
 Delta
Air Lines and the University of Georgia have joined together to create
a new international prize that recognizes efforts to advance understanding
and cooperation among cultures and nations.
The Delta Prize for Global Understanding is presented annually to
individuals whose initiatives have helped promote world peace. The
inaugural award was presented to former President Jimmy Carter, Rosalynn
Carter and the Atlanta-based Carter Center.
The Delta Air Lines Foundation gave the University of Georgia an $890,000
grant to establish the Delta Prize program. UGA administers the program,
which provides a $10,000 cash prize and an original work of art to
the award winner.
"As a global airline, Delta knows intercultural understanding
is essential to the success of our communities and businesses,"
said Maurice Worth, Delta Air Lines' chief operating officer in announcing
the establishment of the Delta Prize program. "That's why we've
chosen to contribute nearly $1 million, the largest contribution in
the history of the Delta Air Lines Foundation, to foster the exchange
of ideas among cultures throughout the world."
The proposal for the award program was developed by Gary
Bertsch, director of UGA’s Center for International Trade
and Security, and Betty
Jean Craige, director of UGA's Willson Center for Humanities and Arts.
The two units are deeply involved in exploring international economic,
political and cultural issues through research, educational programs
and publications.
Bertsch said the prize is given for "globally significant efforts
that provide opportunities for greater understanding among nations
and cultures." Those efforts could include grassroots projects
that diminish hostilities in a particular part of the world, international
programs that promote communication or trade among different peoples,
and leadership that inspires global cooperation and peace, according
to Bertsch.
 UGA
President Michael Adams said he hopes the Delta Prize will grow in
stature to become an international symbol of partnership and good
will among nations. "Our world is a global society in which all
nations are interdependent and all people are interconnected,"
said Adams. "The University of Georgia is committed to using
its resources, and the knowledge and talents of its faculty and staff,
to make the world a better place to live. It is appropriate that our
state university and one of our state's leading corporate citizens
join forces to advance this goal of international peace and progress."
Craige notes that UGA students assist in the process of soliciting
nominations through the two university centers and other international
programs. They also help research nominees and prepare materials for
the selection board that chooses the winner. "Participating in
this program is a rewarding educational opportunity for the students,"
said Craige. "It gives them insights into contemporary international
matters, and helps them identify role models for the global society
in which they will live."
The Center for
International Trade and Security, formed more than a decade ago,
sponsors research, publications and outreach programs on such topics
as arms control and international economic policy. Bertsch, one of
the center's founders, is University Professor of political science.
The author, co-author or editor of numerous books on east-west economic
relations and national security, he has conducted research in Europe,
the former Soviet Union and Asia.
The Willson Center for Humanities and Arts, supports research, publications, instruction
and public programs in a wide range of scholarly fields including
history, religion and philosophy, and in all artistic fields including
literature, drama, music, art and dance. Craige, who has been the
center’s director since 1993, is University Professor of comparative
literature. The author, translator and editor of numerous books, she
is nationally known as an advocate for the liberal arts in higher
education. |
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