As a proud member of Empress Theophano Prize Governing Council, Nada Kakabadse – Professor of Policy, Governance and Ethics at Henley Business School, University of Reading – reports that this year’s coveted prize will be presented to Dr. Timothy Shriver, Chairman of Special Olympics, at a Ceremony on 23rd October, 2024, in the 2,000-year-old Rotunda of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Tim Shriver, Chairman of Special Olympics, comments: “On behalf of the four million Special Olympics athletes we serve every day around the world, it is truly one of my greatest honors to accept the Empress Theophano Prize. Disability rights are human rights. Everyone has a right to participate in society. Everyone has gifts to celebrate. […]

“Our mission is bigger than the World Games we put on, bigger than the millions of volunteers and family members who give their time to make the possible a daily reality for one of the most marginalized populations in the world.

“Our mission is to create a truly unified generation that, together, through programming in sport, health, education, and community building, harnesses the power of our movement and amplifies our athletes’ voices to reach new audiences around the world with their powerful messages of dignity, resilience, and inclusion.”

Stavros Andreadis, Chairman of the Governing Council of the Theophano Foundation said: “In a world of diversity and adversities, it is fundamental to highlight the contribution of institutions such as Special Olympics, not only as a means for building more inclusive societies, but also as a benchmark for the power of human beings to overcome hardship and become an example of the joy of life.”

Herman Van Rompuy, former President of the EU’s European Council and Chairman of the Advisory Council of the Theophano Foundation said: “Special Olympics embodies the key values of the Theophano Prize: generosity, human dignity and togetherness across borders. It's 'special but it's great.”

The Empress Theophano Prize, a non-pecuniary award conferred each year after deliberation between the Advisory and Governing Councils of the Theophano Foundation, is designed to highlight those persons or organisations in Europe and beyond who embody European and universal values.

The Special Olympics shows the power of sport to overcome adversity and promote inclusion. The latest Theophano Foundation prize is the fifth such award.

Previous winners have included the EU’s Erasmus student exchange programme, the inventors of the life-saving Covid vaccine, Dr Uğur Şahin and Dr Özlem Türeci, the globally respected pianist and maestro Daniel Barenboim for his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, and the United Nations, in the person of António Gutteres, UN Secretary General, for its contribution to world peace and international cooperation.

The city of Thessaloniki, the location of the Theophano Foundation, was the Byzantine Empire’s second city and, while it has suffered tragedy in its long history, it has since antiquity been a meeting place for people of all backgrounds and creeds and a wellspring of inspiration for Western Europe.

Find out more here. www.theophano.eu/