Monday, November 04, 2002

Wilmington, NC –Dr. Gerald Shinn, professor emeritus of philosophy and religion at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, will deliver the inaugural lecture of the Albert Schweitzer Honors Scholars program at 2 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 13, in King Hall Auditorium. This is a free, pubic event sponsored by the Honors Scholars Program and Randall Library.

The Albert Schweitzer Honors Scholars initiative came about following the formal dissolution of the Albert Schweitzer International Prizes Inc. in summer 2002.

The Schweitzer Prizes, founded by Dr. Shinn and first presented on the campus of UNCW in 1975, were subsequently awarded in 1981, 1985, 1989, and 1993. The prize recipients reflected Dr. Schweitzer’s philosophy of life and excelled in the fields of music, humanities, or medicine.

Among the 15 notable recipients were Mother Teresa who received the 1975 prize for humanities; Andres Segovia who received the 1981 prize for music; and Dr. George Herbert Hitchings who received the 1989 prize for medicine. Both Mother Teresa and Dr. Hitchings later received the Nobel Prize.

The Schweitzer Prizes were administered by a 15-member volunteer board of directors, explained Mimi Cunningham, assistant vice chancellor for university relations at UNCW and secretary to the board.

“The board commissioned two separate feasibility studies to determine the viability of the volunteer board’s being able to raise funds to sustain and produce the Schweitzer Prizes, and both were discouraging,” she said.

“However, the board very much wanted to keep alive the memory and ideals of Albert Schweitzer and remind the campus of the place of the exemplary prize recipients in UNCW’s history. So the board worked with the UNCW Honors Scholars Program and Randall Library to use its remaining assets to endow the annual Albert Schweitzer Honors Scholars program.”

Each year, students in the UNCW Honors Scholars Program will nominate an individual from the Cape Fear area to be named the Albert Schweitzer Honors Scholar who will lecture to the honors scholars’ freshman seminar class in the fall semester. The nominee will exemplify the attributes or interests of Dr. Albert Schweitzer. Dr. Albert Schweitzer was a physician, lover of animals, minister, scholarly theologian, environmentalist, musician and musical scholar, anti-nuclear activist, philosopher, husband, father, and friend.

Gerald Shinn was recognized because he founded the Albert Schweitzer International Prizes and the UNCW Museum of World Cultures. Shinn was honored with the O. Max Gardner award in 1994, the highest faculty honor presented by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors. He is the first UNCW professor to receive the prestigious statewide O. Max Gardner award, presented annually since 1949. Shinn lives near Albemarle in retirement.

Following the lecture there will be a reception from 3 to 4 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 13, in Randall Library Special Collections.

For more information, contact Kate Bruce at 910/962-4181.