Richard Dawkins Award

The Richard Dawkins Award is an annual prize awarded by the Center for Inquiry (CFI). It was established in 2003 and was initially awarded by the Atheist Alliance of America coordinating with Richard Dawkins and the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science.[1] In 2019, the award was formally moved to CFI. [2] CFI is a US nonprofit organization that variously claims on its website to promote reason, science, freedom of inquiry, and humanist values, or science, reason, and secular values.[3] The award was initially presented by the Atheist Alliance of America to honor an "outstanding atheist", who taught or advocated scientific knowledge and acceptance of nontheism, and raised public awareness.[4] The award is currently presented by the Center for Inquiry to an individual associated with science, scholarship, education, or entertainment, and who "publicly proclaims the values of secularism and rationalism, upholding scientific truth wherever it may lead."[1] They state that the recipient must be approved by Dawkins himself.[1]

Richard Dawkins Award
The 2016 Richard Dawkins Award, presented to Lawrence Krauss
Awarded forpublicly proclaiming "the values of secularism and rationalism, upholding scientific truth wherever it may lead."[1]
Presented byCenter for Inquiry
First awarded2003 (2003)
Currently held by20 individuals
Websitecenterforinquiry.org

The Richard Dawkins Award is named in honor of the eponymous British evolutionary biologist. In a 2013 poll conducted by Prospect magazine, Dawkins was ranked first in the list of "world thinkers" rankings. He is famous for his atheistic beliefs,[5] and has written books including The God Delusion and Outgrowing God: A Beginner's Guide.[6][7] The first Richard Dawkins Award was received by James Randi, a magician who investigated and debunked various paranormal claims.[8][9] In 2005, Penn Jillette and Teller, jointly as Penn & Teller, received the award.[10][11] In 2009, Bill Maher received the award; due to his views on vaccines and his criticism of evidence-based medicine, oncologist David Gorski referred to him receiving the award as "inappropriate".[12] In 2020, Javed Akhtar became the first Indian to receive the award.[13] In 2021, Tim Minchin received the award.[14] In 2022, Neil deGrasse Tyson received the award saying it was an honor that he would hold above all others.[15]

List of recipients
List of recipients of the Richard Dawkins Award
Year Portrait Name Notes[lower-alpha 1] Ref(s).
2003 James Randi Randi was a magician who investigated and debunked mind-reading, ghost whispering, fortune-telling, and other paranormal claims. Professionally known as "Amazing Randi", he was a recipient of the MacArthur award.[9] [8]
2004 Ann Druyan Druyan is a film producer, director, lecturer, and a writer. She is an agnostic, and asserts that religious faith is "antithetical to the values of science".[16][17][18] [1][10]
2005 Penn & Teller Penn Jillette and Teller, jointly known as Penn & Teller, are an Emmy Award winning magician duo. Both identify as atheists.[11][19][20] [1][10]
2006 Julia Sweeney Sweeney is an actor and writer, notable for her work in Saturday Night Live. She has written My Beautiful Loss of Faith Story explaining her atheism.[21][22] [1][10]
2007 Daniel Dennett Dennett served as a professor and the director of the Center for Cognitive Studies at Tufts University. He has authored various books including Consciousness Explained, Darwin's Dangerous Idea, and Kinds of Minds.[23] He argues that we "must not preserve the myth of God – it was a useful crutch, but we've outgrown it."[24] [25]
2008 Ayaan Hirsi Ali Ali is a Somalian immigrant who served as a member of Dutch Parliament. She is a former Muslim converted to atheism, and a vocal critic of the Quran.[26] [4]
2009 Bill Maher Maher is a political satirist and the host of Real Time with Bill Maher. He starred in the 2008 film Religulous, which the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science referred as "the most prominent film against religion in the United States" of 2008.[27][28] [12]
2010 Susan Jacoby Jacoby is an author and a Pulitzer Prize finalist. She is an atheist, and has authored various books, including The Age of American Unreason and Strange Gods: A Secular History of Conversion.[29][30] [4]
2011 Christopher Hitchens Hitchens was a journalist who authored the book God Is Not Great, which writer Susan Sontag called "the small world of those who till the field of ideas".[31] [32][33]
2012 Eugenie Scott Scott is an anthropologist who served as the director of National Center for Science Education. She is an atheist.[34] [35][36]
2013 Steven Pinker Pinker is a linguist, psychologist, and a professor at Harvard University; he has authored How The Mind Works. He is an atheist.[37][38] [39]
2014 Rebecca Goldstein Goldstein is an author with a Ph.D. in philosophy. She is a recipient of 2014 National Humanities Medal. She authored the fictional book 36 Arguments for the Existence of God, which The Guardian writer Jonathan Beckman referred as "[mocking] the delusions of both the godly and the godless".[40][41][42] [43]
2015 Jerry Coyne Coyne is a professor of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago. He is a supporter of evolution, and asserts that "belief in God is [...] detrimental, even dangerous, and fundamentally incompatible with science."[44][45] [46]
2016 Lawrence Krauss Krauss is an American-Canadian physicist. He has been referred by Melissa Pugh, then president of Atheist Alliance of America, as a "passionate advocate of atheism and reason known throughout the world".[47] [47]
2017 David Silverman Silverman is an American who has served as the president of the American Atheists organization. The Washington Post referred to him as one of America's "most prominent atheists".[48][49] [50]
2018 Stephen Fry Fry is a British comedian, actor, and an activist who received the award because of "his role in the world of skepticism, atheism, rationalism."[51] [51]
2019 Ricky Gervais Gervais is a British comedian, screenwriter, and actor, known for his critical thinking, rationalism, and secularism.[52] [52]
2020 Javed Akhtar Akhtar is a poet and lyricist, who is the first Indian to receive the award. He received the award for "critical thinking, holding religious dogma up to scrutiny, advancing human progress and humanist values."[13] [53]
2021 Tim Minchin Minchin is a musician and comedian, who received the award for "inspiring a global audience to find joy in reason, science, and skepticism."[54] [14]
2022 Neil deGrasse Tyson Tyson is an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. Since 1996, he has been the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York City. [15]

See also
  • List of religion-related awards

Notes
  1. No official citation for the award has been provided by the Atheist Alliance of America or by the Center for Inquiry. This column broadly outlines the work and views of the recipient.

References
  1. "Richard Dawkins Award". 11 June 2020.
  2. "Richard Dawkins Award Moving to the Center for Inquiry". Center for Inquiry. April 16, 2019. Archived from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  3. "About | Center for Inquiry". 17 May 2018.
  4. "The Richards Dawkins Award". Atheist Alliance of America. Archived from the original on January 15, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  5. Dugdale, John (April 25, 2013). "Richard Dawkins Named World's Top Thinker in Poll". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on November 12, 2013. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  6. McCrum, Robert (April 4, 2016). "The 100 best nonfiction books: No 10 – The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on April 14, 2019. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  7. Burkeman, Oliver (October 2, 2019). "This Life and Outgrowing God Review – Heaven, Atheism and What Gives Life Meaning". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on September 4, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
  8. "Magicians, Skeptics Share Their Memories of James Randi". Skeptical Inquirer. Vol. 45, no. 1. 2021. ISSN 0194-6730. Archived from the original on October 31, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  9. Fox, Margalit (October 21, 2020). "James Randi, Magician Who Debunked Paranormal Claims, Dies at 92". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  10. "Richard Dawkins Award past winners – Javed Akhtar to Stephen Fry". Moneycontrol.com. Network18 Group. June 8, 2020. Archived from the original on October 30, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  11. Collins, Glenn (December 4, 1988). "Up to New Tricks". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 9, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  12. Gerbic, Susan (2016). "A Skeptic's Woe over Margaret Cho". Skeptical Inquirer. ISSN 0194-6730. Archived from the original on June 7, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  13. Joshi, Namrata (June 8, 2020). "Javed Akhtar Becomes First Indian to Receive Richard Dawkins Award". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on August 12, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
  14. "Richard Dawkins Award Presented to Tim Minchin". Skeptical Inquirer. Vol. 46, no. 1. 2022. ISSN 0194-6730. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
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  19. Jillette, Penn (June 3, 2016). "Penn Jillette: Time for atheists to stand up and be counted". CNN. Archived from the original on March 6, 2022. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
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  26. Brockes, Emma (May 8, 2010). "Ayaan Hirsi Ali: 'Why are Muslims so hypersensitive?'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on October 25, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
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  53. Fidalgo, Paul (2020). "Richard Dawkins Award Goes to Writer-Lyricist Javed Akhtar". Skeptical Inquirer. Vol. 44, no. 5. ISSN 0194-6730. Archived from the original on July 20, 2021. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  54. "Musician and Comedian Tim Minchin to Receive Richard Dawkins Award in Oxford, Oct. 10". Center for Inquiry. September 20, 2021. Archived from the original on November 11, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2022.
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