UMass Lowell’s 2014 Greeley Scholar for Peace Studies Albie Sachs, a lifelong friend of Nelson Mandela and one of the architects of South African democracy, has been named the 2014 Tang Prize Laureate in the Rule of Law.

The Tang Prize which is less well known but akin to the Nobel Prize (which coincidentally was awarded in 2011 to Leymah Gbowee, that year’s UMass Lowell Greeley Scholar for Peace Studies) was founded by Dr. Samuel Yin in 2012 to recognize . . .

scholars conducting revolutionary research in the four major fields: Sustainable Development, Biopharmaceutical Science, Sinology, and the Rule of Law. The Prize is awarded on a biennial basis, with each category be awarded in the amount of no less than NT$40 million (around US $1,340,000) in prize money. An additional NT$10 million (around US $ 330,000) grant will also be allocated for carrying out plans to facilitate further research or nurture talents in the field.  The Tang Prize in Rule of Law (ROL Prize) is awarded to individual(s) or institution(s) who have made significant contributions to the rule of law, reflected not only in the achievement of the candidate(s) in the advancement of legal theory or practice, but also in the realization of the rule of law in contemporary societies through the influences or inspiration of the work of the candidate(s)

The award to Albie Sachs is . . .

for his many contributions to human rights and justice globally through an understanding of the rule of law in which the dignity of all persons is respected and the strengths and values of all communities are embraced, in particular through his efforts in the realization of the rule of law in a free and democratic South Africa, working as activist, lawyer, scholar, and framer of a new Constitution to heal the divisions of the past and to establishing a society that respects diversity and is based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights.

More information about the Tang Prize is available on the Tang Prize Foundation’s website and a full account of the Greeley Scholar-related activities by Albie Sachs while at UMass Lowell is available on the University’s website.

Congratulations to Albie Sachs and also to UMass Lowell.  With a Nobel Prize and now a Tang Prize, the Greeley Scholar for Peace Studies program is sure to continue bring some of the most important contemporary historical figures in the world to Lowell.