Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service

The Common Wealth Awards of Distinguished Service (or Common Wealth Awards) were created under the will of the late Ralph Hayes, an influential American business executive and philanthropist. Hayes conceived the awards to reward and encourage the best of human performance worldwide. Hayes served on the board of directors of PNC Bank, Delaware's predecessor banks from 1935 to 1965. Through the Common Wealth Awards, he sought to recognize outstanding achievement in eight disciplines: dramatic arts, literature, science, invention, mass communications, public service, government and sociology. The awards also provide an incentive for people to make future contributions to the world community.

Common Wealth Award
Awarded forOutstanding achievement(s) in dramatic arts, literature, science, invention, mass communications, public service, government, and sociology.
Country United States
Presented byPNC Bank
First awarded1979

Ralph Hayes

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Hayes worked in the Office of the United States Secretary of War in Washington, D.C., the motion picture industry, publishing, banking, and for the Coca-Cola Company. For 35 years, he was a Coca-Cola executive; he was secretary-treasurer, vice president, and as a director of Coca-Cola International. He was on the board of directors of the Bank of Delaware (now PNC Bank) from 1943 to 1965, having previously been a Director of its predecessor, The Equitable Trust Company, from 1935 to 1943. Hayes also had a long career of public service. He was a chairman of the James Foundation, president of Community Funds, Inc., and a longtime director of the New York Community Trust. He died in 1977 at the age of 82, leaving the Common Wealth Awards as part of his charitable legacy.[1]

Prize and ceremony

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Each recipient of the Common Wealth Award receives a $50,000 prize.[2] It is presented at an annual, invitation-only, black-tie dinner hosted at the Hotel DuPont in Wilmington, Delaware.

In their 39-year history, the Common Wealth Awards have conferred $6 million in prize money to 201 honorees of international renown.[2] The awards are funded by the Common Wealth Trust.

Common Wealth Award Writing Contest

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Since 2000, more than sixty Delaware high school students have met and talked to the winning world leaders through the Common Wealth Award Writing Contest.[2] Four winners of the writing contest and their parents or guardians are invited each year to the Common Wealth Awards ceremony, where the honorees are recognized for their lifetime achievement. As time allows, students are often able to talk directly with the winners.

Contest winners are publicly acknowledged at the Common Wealth Awards ceremony and receive a framed picture of themselves taken with the honorees.

List of honorees

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Year Honoree Discipline Claim to Fame
1979 Laurence, Lord Olivier
  United Kingdom
Dramatic Arts British actor and founding director of the British National Theatre.
Joseph Papp
  United States
Dramatic Arts Influential American theatrical director and producer.
Jay W. Forrester
  United States
Science & Invention Prominent scientist who made outstanding contributions to digital computer technology.
Charles J. Plank
  India
Science & Invention Chemist and inventor credited with inventing the first commercially applicable apparatus for the breaking of hydrocarbons.
Edward J. Rosinski
  United States
Science & Invention Chemical engineer and inventor credited with making significant breakthroughs in the technology of hydrocarbon conversions.
Kingsley Davis
  United States
Sociology American sociologist and demographer who coined the terms population explosion and zero population growth.
Robert Merton
  United States
Sociology Influential sociologist recognized for coining terms such as, self-fulfilling prophecy and role models.
1980 Peter Brook
  United Kingdom
Dramatic Arts
Agnes de Mille
  United States
Dramatic Arts Famed American dancer and choreographer.
Gabriel García Márquez
  Colombia
Literature Nobel Prize-winning author and a pioneer of the Latin American Boom.
Robert Penn Warren
  United States
Literature American poet, novelist, and literary critic; cofounder of New Criticism.
Clair McCollough
  United States
Mass Communications Radio and television executive, as well as longtime officer of the National Association of Broadcasters
Lowell Thomas
  United States
Mass Communications American writer, broadcaster, and traveler, best known for publicizing the story of Lawrence of Arabia.
James Hillier
  Canada
Science & Invention Physicist and inventor who assisted in the development of an early, commercially successful electron microscope for RCA.
Lewis H. Sarett
  United States
Science & Invention
James Coleman
  United States
Sociology
Otis Duncan
  United States
Sociology One of the most influential sociologists in history, instrumental in transforming mainstream American sociology.
1981 Harold Pinter
  United Kingdom
Dramatic Arts
Tennessee Williams
  United States
Dramatic Arts Major American playwright of the twentieth century.
Nadine Gordimer
  South Africa
Literature
Milan Kundera
  Czech Republic
Literature
Walter Cronkite
  United States
Mass Communications
Julian Goodman
  United States
Mass Communications
Howard S. Becker
  United States
Sociology
Peter Blau
  Austria
Sociology
1982 Harold Prince
  United States
Dramatic Arts Award-winning producer and director; co-artistic director of the New Phoenix Repertory Company.
Wright Morris
  United States
Literature American novelist, short-story writer, essayist, and photographer.
Vincent Wasilewski
  United States
Mass Communications President of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB).
Bell Laboratories
  United States
Science & Invention Credited with the discovery of the Fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE).
Charles Tilly
  United States
Sociology
1983 Hume Cronyn
  Canada (d.   United States)
Dramatic Arts
Jessica Tandy
  United Kingdom
Dramatic Arts
Jeane J. Kirkpatrick
  United States
Government
Christopher Isherwood
  United Kingdom
Literature
César Milstein
  Argentina
Science & Invention
Kenneth Lane Thompson
  United States
Science & Invention
William Sewell
  United States
Sociology
1984 Athol Fugard
  South Africa
Dramatic Arts
Stephen Sondheim
  United States
Dramatic Arts Award-winning stage musical and film composer & lyricist.
Eudora Welty
  United States
Literature
Robert Phelan Langlands
  Canada
Science & Invention
Joseph Rubinfeld
  United States
Invention Instrumental in licensing the original anticancer line of products for Bristol-Meyers, as well as development of amoxicillin.
Matilda White Riley
  United States
Sociology Renowned sociologist and Daniel B. Fayerweather Professor of Political Economy and Sociology Emerita.
1985 Zelda Fichandler
  United States
Dramatic Arts Famed cofounder and producing director of the Arena Stage in Washington.
Max Frisch
  Switzerland
Literature
Candy Lightner
  United States
Public Service The organizer and founding president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).
Alain Aspect
  France
Science & Invention
Delft Hydraulics Laboratory
  Netherlands
Science & Invention
Peter H. Rossi
  United States
Sociology Prominent sociologist, best known for documenting homelessness in the 1980s.
1986 Samuel Beckett
  Ireland
Dramatic Arts
John Ashbery
  United States
Literature Award-winning American poet.
Norman Cousins
  United States
Mass Communications
Leon H. Sullivan
  United States
Public Service
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
  United States
Science & Invention NASA research center which specializes in building and operating uncrewed spacecraft.
Kenneth H. Olsen
  United States
Science & Invention American engineer who co-founded Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in 1957 with a colleague.
John A. Clausen
  United States
Sociology
1987–88 Lloyd Richards
  United States (b.   Canada)
Dramatic Arts
Andrei Voznesensky
  Russia
Literature
Gordon Parks
  United States
Mass Communications Famed American photographer, pianist, film director, and novelist.
N.T. Pete Shields
  United States
Public Service Cofounder of Handgun Control, a Washington, D.C.-based citizens' gun control lobbying organization
John B. MacChesney
  United States
Science & Invention Best known for key inventions in the commercial manufacture of optical fiber.
Robin M. Williams, Jr.
  United States
Sociology
1989 Jennifer Tipton
  United States
Dramatic Arts Award-winning American lighting designer.
George P. Shultz
  United States
Government Former Secretary of Labor, Secretary of the Treasury, and head of the Office of Management and Budget.
Toni Morrison
  United States
Literature Nobel Prize-winning author, editor, and professor.
David Brinkley
  United States
Mass Communications Emmy nominated television newscaster and host of This Week with David Brinkley from 1982–1997.
Leroy E. Hood
  United States
Science & Invention American biologist who helped to decode the human genome.
Alice S. Rossi
  United States
Sociology Cofounder of the National Organization for Women; 74th president of the American Sociological Association.
1990 Jerome Robbins
  United States
Dramatic Arts Academy Award-winning film director and choreographer.
Aharon Appelfeld
  Israel (b.   Romania)
Literature One of Israel's foremost living Hebrew-language authors.
David Broder
  United States
Mass Communications Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author, talk show pundit, and university professor.
Jaime Escalante
  Bolivia
Public Service
J.C.R. Licklider
  United States
Science & Invention Renowned for his work on the human-computer dialogue, time sharing, virtual memory, and resource sharing.
Mirra Komarovsky
  Russia
Sociology
1991 James Earl Jones
  United States
Dramatic Arts
Paul A. Volcker
  United States
Government Former chairman of the Federal Reserve.
Adrienne Rich
  United States
Literature
Sebastião Salgado
  Brazil
Mass Communications Respected photojournalist and Special Representative for UNICEF.
Roger N. Beachy
  United States
Science & Invention American biologist and founder of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center.
Nathan Keyfitz
  Canada
Sociology Responsible for important work regarding formal demography and population projections.
1992 Arthur Miller
  United States
Dramatic Arts
Warren E. Burger
  United States
Government
James A. Michener
  United States
Literature
Ted Turner
  United States
Mass Communications American media mogul and philanthropist.
Susan Solomon
  United States
Science & Invention Demonstrated the first conclusive link between manmade CFCs and the ozone holes above Antarctica.
1993 Julie Harris
  United States
Dramatic Arts Three-time Emmy Award-winning and five-time Tony Award-winning actress of stage, screen, and television.
John Updike
  United States
Literature Prominent American novelist, poet, short story writer, and literary critic.
Jim Lehrer
  United States
Mass Communications American journalist and anchor for The News Hour with Jim Lehrer on PBS.
Jonas Salk
  United States
Public Service World-renowned for his development of the polio vaccine.
Charles H. Townes
  United States
Science & Invention Accomplishments range from helping ease the strain of everyday life to studying the origin of the universe.
1994 August Wilson
  United States
Dramatic Arts Prominent African-American playwright.
Henry A. Kissinger
  United States
Government Former Secretary of State and Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs; founder of Kissinger Associates.
Larry King
  United States
Mass Communications Award-winning television and radio broadcaster; host of CNN's Larry King Live.
Jacques-Yves Cousteau
  France
Public Service Explorer, ecologist, scientist, photographer, and researcher who invented SCUBA and pioneered unaided deep sea diving.
Leland H. Hartwell
  United States
Science & Invention Widely recognized pioneer in the field of yeastgenetics and cancer research.
1995 Jane Alexander
  United States
Dramatic Arts Award-winning actress, author, and former director of the National Endowment for the Arts.
William Styron
  United States
Literature Novelist who explored difficult historical and moral questions.
Charles Kuralt
  United States
Mass Communications Award-winning American journalist, best known for his long career with CBS.
James & Sarah Brady
  United States
Public Service Influential members of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
Karen Uhlenbeck
  United States
Science & Invention Helped in the understanding of the fundamental properties of matter in the universe.
1996 Jason Robards
  United States
Dramatic Arts Award-winning film and television actor.
Derek Walcott
  Saint Lucia
Literature Nobel Prize-winning poet, playwright, writer, visual artist, and theatre & art critic.
Ken Burns
  United States
Mass Communications Award-winning documentary filmmaker.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver
  United States
Public Service Founder of the Special Olympics.
Andrew Wiles
  United Kingdom
Science & Invention Solved Fermat's Last Theorem, an equation that had perplexed mathematicians for centuries.
1997 Seamus Heaney
  Ireland
Literature Nobel Prize-winning poet, writer, and lecturer.
Michael E. DeBakey
  United States
Science & Invention Internationally recognized pioneer in the field of cardiovascular research and surgery.
Jane Goodall
  United Kingdom
Public Service World-renowned for her 45-year study of chimpanzee social and family life.
Edward Albee
  United States
Dramatic Arts Pulitzer Prize-winning contemporary American playwright.
James H. Clark
  United States
Mass Communications Prolific entrepreneur and former computer scientist; cofounder of Netscape Communications Corporation.
1998 Christopher Plummer
  Canada
Dramatic Arts Actor of stage, screen, and television during his five-decade career.
Saul Bellow
  United States (b.   Canada)
Literature Nobel Prize-winning novelist.
Bill Moyers
  United States
Mass Communications Veteran journalist who worked for both CBS and PBS during his nearly four-decade career.
Betty Ford
  United States
Public Service Founder of the Betty Ford Center, a drug and alcohol dependency treatment center located in Rancho Mirage, CA.
Stephanie Kwolek
  United States
Science & Invention Was responsible for the creation and discovery of Kevlar during her time at the DuPont Company.
1999 Dr. Louis Miller
  United States
Science & Invention Biologist who has made vast contributions to malaria research and other widespread tropical diseases.
John Irving
  United States
Literature Bestselling American novelist and Academy Award-winning screenwriter.
Robert MacNeil
  Canada
Mass Communications Former television news anchor and journalist of The MacNeil/Lehrer Report.
Lawrence Eagleburger
  United States
Government Former Secretary of State and diplomat.
Julie Taymor
  United States
Dramatic Arts American director of Broadway theatre and film.
2000 Desmond Tutu
  South Africa
Public Service Anglican archbishop, international human rights leader, and 1984 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
E. L. Doctorow
  United States
Literature Foremost American novelist acclaimed for his lyrical, breakthrough fiction.
Christiane Amanpour
  United Kingdom
Mass Communications CNN chief foreign correspondent and influential reporter of global crises.
Robert Ballard
  United States
Science & Invention Marine scientist, pioneer of deep ocean exploration, and undersea archaeologist.
Mikhail Baryshnikov
  Russia
Dramatic Arts Legendary dancer and icon of classical ballet and modern dance.
2001 Morgan Freeman
  United States
Dramatic Arts Veteran actor acclaimed for his classic, commanding roles on stage, screen, and television.
J. Craig Venter
  United States
Science & Invention Biochemist, entrepreneur, and gene pioneer who succeeded in unlocking the human genetic code.
James Nachtwey
  United States
Mass Communications Renowned photojournalist who has chronicled the human anguish of war, genocide, and famine worldwide.
Philip Roth
  United States
Literature Pulitzer Prize winner regarded as a literary giant among America's postwar generation of writers.
Dr. William Magee & Kathleen Magee
  United States
Public Service Founders of Operation Smile, which aids children with facial deformities around the world.
2002 Julie Andrews
  United Kingdom
Dramatic Arts World-renowned performer whose stardom spans movies, theater, television, and concert hall.
Carlos Fuentes
  Mexico
Literature Preeminent writer of fiction and political commentary, and a leading cultural force in modern Latin America.
Lonnie Thompson & Ellen Mosley-Thompson
  United States
Science & Invention Researchers who have tracked Earth's ancient climate history and global warming.
George Mitchell
  United States
Government Former U.S. Senate majority leader and peace mediator for Northern Ireland and the Middle East.
Fred Rogers
  United States
Mass Communications Children's television icon; creator and host of the critically acclaimed Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
2003 Sam Donaldson
  United States
Mass Communications Veteran television journalist and former chief White House correspondent for ABC News.
Bob Dole
  United States
Government Former U.S. Senate majority leader and influential voice of the Republican Party.
Susan Stroman
  United States
Dramatic Arts Broadway's most celebrated director-choreographer.
Joyce Carol Oates
  United States
Literature One of America's most significant and inventive contemporary writers.
Dean Kamen
  United States
Science & Invention Renowned inventor of breakthrough medical and transportation devices.
2004 Christopher Reeve
  United States
Public Service Renowned actor and America's leading advocate for people with paralysis and other disabilities.
Meryl Streep
  United States
Dramatic Arts Legendary actress and Hollywood icon, considered the greatest film star of her generation.
Stanley Prusiner, M.D.
  United States
Science & Invention Pioneering researcher and Nobel Prize-winner who discovered the deadly protein linked to mad-cow disease.
Isabel Allende
  Chile
Literature The most widely read and renowned Latin American woman writer in the world.
Andrea Mitchell
  United States
Mass Communications Leading broadcast journalist and chief foreign affairs correspondent for NBC News.
2005 Gen. Colin L. Powell
  United States
Government Former Secretary of State and respected leader, diplomat, and soldier.
David Mamet
  United States
Dramatic Arts Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Hollywood screenwriter, and preeminent dramatist.
Tim Berners-Lee
  United Kingdom
Mass Communications Visionary inventor of the World Wide Web and director of the World Wide Web consortium.
Amy Tan
  United States
Literature Best-selling novelist whose stories explore family ties, heritage, and the Asian-American experience.
Kip Thorne
  United States
Science & Invention Foremost American researcher of black holes and gravitational waves.
2006 John Glenn
  United States
Government Former U.S. Senator, astronaut, and heroic pioneer of American space exploration.
HM Queen Noor of Jordan
  Jordan
Public Service A leading voice for global peace-building, human rights, and conflict recovery issues.
Mike Nichols
  United States
Dramatic Arts Preeminent and award-winning director of stage and screen.
Rita Dove
  United States
Literature Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and two-term Poet Laureate of the United States.
Anderson Cooper
  United States
Mass Communications Leading broadcast journalist and CNN news anchor of Anderson Cooper 360°.
2007 Sidney Poitier
  United States
Dramatic Arts Academy Award-winning actor and cinematic trailblazer.
Aleksander Kwaśniewski
  Poland
Government Former two-term president of the Republic of Poland; cofounder of the Social Democratic Party.
Cokie Roberts
  United States
Mass Communications Veteran broadcast journalist; best-selling author; political analyst for ABC News; and NPR senior news analyst.
Ian McEwan
  United Kingdom
Literature Acclaimed and award-winning British novelist, short-story, and screenwriter.
2008 Glenn Close
  United States
Dramatic Arts Celebrated actress of stage, screen, and television.
John Howard
  Australia
Government Four-term prime minister of Australia.
Ann Curry
  United States (b.   Guam)
Mass Communications News anchor of NBC's Today; coanchor of Dateline NBC.
James E. Hansen
  United States
Science Preeminent climate scientist; director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
2009 Buzz Aldren
  United States
Science Astronaut and lunar explorer.
Doris Kearns Goodwin
  United States
Mass Communications Historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author.
Don DeLillo
  United States
Literature Author, playwright and occasional essayist whose work paints a detailed portrait of American life in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Kevin Spacey
  United States
Dramatic Arts Academy Award-winning actor and artistic director of London's Old Vic Theatre Company.
2010 Annie Leibovitz
  United States
Mass Communications Legendary portrait photographer responsible for some of the most iconic images of the last four decades.
Laura Linney
  United States
Dramatic Arts Award-winning actress of stage, film, and theatre. Best known for her roles in Love Actually and HBO miniseries "John Adams."
Greg Mortenson
  United States
Public Service Humanitarian, writer. Co-founder of the Central Asia Institute and founder of the charity Pennies for Peace.
Salman Rushdie
  India
Literature Booker Prize-winning novelist and essayist. Played a major role in the development of Indian English literature.
2011 Russell Banks
  United States
Literature Internationally acclaimed novelist, poet, and short story writer.
Cherie Blair
  United Kingdom
Public Service Noted human rights lawyer and women's rights activist.
Bill Richardson
  United States
Government Thirtieth Governor of New Mexico, former U.S. Energy Secretary, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Congressman.
George Will
  United States
Mass Communications America's foremost political commentator and Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist.
2012[3] Wolf Blitzer
  United States
Mass Communications
Madeleine Albright
  United States
Government
Kenneth Cole
  United States
Public Service
Judith Jamison
  United States
Dramatic Arts
2013[4] Alan Alda
  United States
Dramatic Arts
David McCullough
  United States
Literature
Jane Pauley
  United States
Mass Communications
Martin Sheen
  United States
Public Service
2014[5] Bob Costas
  United States
Mass Communications
Anjelica Huston
  United States
Dramatic Arts
Mariano Rivera
  Panama
Public Service
2015[6] Jon Bon Jovi
  United States
Public Service
Edward Norton
  United States
Public Service
Jimmy Wales
  United States
Mass Communications
2016[7] Mandy Patankin
  United States
Dramatic Arts
Bob Schieffer
  United States
Mass Communications
Elizabeth Smart
  United States
Public Service
2017[8] Charles Grodin
  United States
Dramatic Arts Distinguished commentator and storyteller.
Dr. Mae Jemison
  United States
Science Esteemed engineer, physician and NASA astronaut; the first African-American woman to travel in space.
Marlo Thomas
  United States
Public Service Social activist and leading national advocate for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
2018[2] Joe Biden
  United States
Government American politician and former Vice President of the United States.
Ron Chernow
  United States
Literature Preeminent American historic biographer.
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
  United States
Sociology Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, distinguished filmmaker, literary scholar and cultural critic.
2019[9] Diane Keaton
  United States
Dramatic Arts Academy Award-winning and Tony nominated actor
Peggy Noonan
  United States
Mass Communications presidential speechwriter, historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist
Captain Sully Sullenberger
  United States
Public Service American hero, safety expert, and author

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The Common Wealth Award for Science and Invention". Sigma Xi: The Scientific Research Society. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
  2. ^ a b c d Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Ron Chernow, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. To Receive 39th Annual Common Wealth Awards
  3. ^ Albright, Blitzer, Cole, Jamison to Receive 33rd Annual Common Wealth Awards
  4. ^ Alan Alda Receives 2013 Common Wealth Award for Dramatic Arts
  5. ^ Bob Costas, Anjelica Huston And Mariano Rivera Receive 35th Annual Common Wealth Awards
  6. ^ Three notables to receive Common Wealth Awards
  7. ^ Three achievers to receive Common Wealth awards
  8. ^ Three achievers to receive Common Wealth Awards
  9. ^ Honor Diane Keaton, Peggy Noonan and Captain Sully Sullenberger