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June 15, 2004, 8:00 am
Delta Air Lines and UGA present the Delta Prize for Global Understanding to first president of the Czech Republic Václav Havel
CONTACT: Cynthia Hoke, 706/542-1024, cchoke@uga.edu; Lloyd Winstead, 706/542-3966, winstead@uga.edu
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Delta Air Lines and the University of Georgia will present Václav Havel, first president of the Czech Republic, with the 2004 Delta Prize for Global Understanding during a luncheon today at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Washington, D.C. President Havel is being recognized for his stand against communist political repression during the 1970s and 1980s and for his leadership in the pursuit of peaceful change in Europe.
“As a global airline, Delta knows the importance of peaceful change and is proud to recognize President Havel for his efforts to promote freedom and understanding in Eastern Europe,” said Paul Graves, Delta Air Lines vice president for global diversity and community affairs.
Established with an $890,000 grant from the Delta Air Lines Foundation, the Delta Prize is administered by UGA. The prize carries a $10,000 cash award.
“The Delta Prize for Global Understanding demonstrates the University of Georgia’s commitment to advancing international understanding and cooperation,” said UGA President Michael F. Adams. “We are grateful to Delta Air Lines for partnering with us to make this award possible.”
Karel Schwarzenberg, former chancellor to President Havel, is receiving the Delta Prize on behalf of President Havel. He became chancellor in 1992 after having headed the President’s office at the Prague Castle.
President Havel, who first obtained recognition in Czechoslovakia as a playwright, was a founder of the 1977 Charter 77 initiative and co-founder of the 1979 Committee for the Defense of the Unjustly Oppressed, which protested the oppressive practices of Czechoslovakia’s communist government. For his political activities, he spent almost five years in prison. As a consequence of his leadership in the bloodless revolution of 1989, Havel won election to the presidency of Czechoslovakia. He conducted free elections in the summer of 1990 and won election a second time on July 5, 1990. After the establishment of the Czech Republic on Jan. 26, 1993, the Chamber of Deputies elected Havel to be the country’s first president.
Delta’s Graves and President Adams will present President Havel’s prize to Schwarzenberg during the luncheon ceremony.
Gary Bertsch, director of UGA’s Center for International Trade and Security, and Betty Jean Craige, director of the university’s Willson Center for Humanities and Arts, will host the ceremony.
Havel is the fifth recipient of the Delta Prize. Previous recipients include Sadako Ogata, former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev; Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa; and former President Jimmy Carter, his wife, Rosalynn, and the Atlanta-based Carter Center.
Nominees for the Delta Prize for Global Understanding are solicited from around the world. Select UGA students research the work of the nominees and prepare information for an international selection board that meets annually to choose the prize recipient.
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