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Medals of Philanthropy
Ambassador
Walter H. Annenberg
Ambassador Leonore Annenberg
Today,
we want to honor the Annenberg Foundation, which embodies the vision
and compassion of Walter Annenberg and his deep commitment to philanthropy
and public service.
Walter
Annenberg: distinguished publisher, United States Ambassador
to the Court of St. James, founder of The Annenberg School for Communication
at the University of Pennsylvania and The Annenberg School for Communication
at the University of Southern California, founder-trustee of the
Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships and the Eisenhower Medical Center,
emeritus Trustee of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, the
Philadelphia Museum of Art, the University of Pennsylvania, and
The Peddie School, among others; recipient of many honors and awards,
including the National Medal of Arts and the Medal of Freeedom,
several years ago you also exhibited your extraordinary faith in
education and your belief—shared by Andrew Carnegie—that
education is a ladder that can lift up anyone to the greatest heights,
by creating the Annenberg Challenge Grant, the largest single gift
ever made to American public education. This $500 million program
of challenge grants—which generated over a billion dollars
in matching funds—was designed to energize, support and replicate
successful K through 12 school reform programs throughout the country
and celebrated our national conviction that a democratic society
has an obligation to educate all students well, especially in light
of the economic realities of the new century. Like no other individual
act by an American citizen, the Annenberg Challenge Grant program
announced, with pride and conviction, that education was the number
one priority of our country and signaled our abiding faith in a
future of hope and promise for all Americans.
And
Leonore Annenberg: committed philanthropist, dedicated civic
leader, patron of the fine arts, and ambassador for all that embodies
the spirit and hope of America, working side-by-side with your husband
and partner of fifty years, you have served and continue to serve
with distinction on the boards of some of this country’s most
important institutions, including the New York Metropolitan Museum
of Art, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the University of Pennsylvania
and, of course, the Annenberg Foundation. During your husband’s
tenure as United States Ambassador to the Court of St. James you
brought your distinctive taste, style and elegance to the royal
court and later, in Washington, D.C., served your country with the
same grace and diplomacy in the capacity of Chief of Protocol, with
the rank of Ambassador. You have been nationally celebrated as a
great champion of the arts and of education and recognized internationally
with awards from the governments of Italy and the Netherlands. For
Great Britain, you created the American Friends of Covent Garden;
for the United States, you have worked tirelessly on behalf of the
Committee for the Preservation of the White House. And always, you
have woven together the themes of art and education, culture and
public service, knitting together a tapestry of honor, service and
vision that puts your nation and many others around the world, deeply
in your debt.
For
all you have done for your fellow citizens of the United States
and the world, the 21 institutions created by Andrew Carnegie present
the inaugural Andrew Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy to you with
pride and admiration.
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