5 November, 2009

Ashesi University and its Founder Patrick Awuah were selected from a highly competitive field of applicants to receive the 2009 John P. McNulty Prize. The Prize recognizes an extraordinary young leader making creative, effective, and lasting contributions to his or her community and is given annually to an Aspen Institute Fellow.

The $100,000 award is given to celebrate the spirit and memory of the Aspen Institute’s trustee, John P. McNulty. Mr. McNulty's widow, Mrs. Anne Welsh McNulty stated, “my husband John was a passionate believer in the power of education to empower people from any background to achieve greatness. The education system gave him and his siblings, first-generation immigrants, the tools to succeed in America. In Patrick Awuah we have found not only immense personal leadership in founding Ashesi, one of the African continent’s first liberal arts universities, but in the school’s commitment to ethics and civics as a central part of education, he has guaranteed future generations of leaders for Ghana, Africa and the world.”

For more information about the John P. McNulty Prize, visit www.mcnultyprize.org