John Templeton Foundation

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The John Templeton Foundation Credit: Templeton

The John Templeton Foundation is a philanthropic organization that funds inter-disciplinary research surrounding scientific, religious and spiritual 'discovery'.

The Foundation was established by John Templeton in 1987.[1] In a 1995 memo, Templeton stated:

'The main purpose of the John Templeton Foundation is to encourage the top 1/10 of 1% of people and thereby encourage all people to think that progress in spiritual information is possible, desirable, can be done and will be done.'[2]

Mission

According to its website, the mission of the foundation is to 'serves as a philanthropic catalyst for discoveries relating to the deepest and most perplexing questions facing humankind' [3], and 'aims to advance human well-being by supporting research on the Big Questions, and by promoting character development, individual freedom, and free markets' [4].

Activities

The Templeton Foundation supports a broad range of activities aimed at finding common ground between science and religion. These include funding for prizes, including the 'Templeton Prize for Progress Toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities', academic programs, publications, broadcasts, lectures, conferences, and research on topics such as the neurobiology and genetics of religious belief; the evolutionary origins of altruism; and the medical benefits of prayer, church attendance, and forgiveness.

Grants

Templeton has repeatedly funded the counter-extremism think tank, the Quilliam Foundation: according to expenditure responsibility statements, grants were issued to Quilliam from 2011 to 2014 for 'promoting freedom of religion, speech and association through strengthening PAK democratic culture', and for 'reconciling Islamic theology with modern political and scientific ideas, promoting community. [5]

Templeton has also funded several conservative, free market think-tanks including the Hudson Institute, the Cato Institute and Atlas Economic Research Foundation.

Grant recipients of the John Templeton Foundation in $ USD [6]
Organisation 2009 2010 2011[7] 2012[8] 2013[9] 2014[10] 2015 Total 2009-2015
Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty - - 210,000 299,445 70,000 335,000 - 914,445
American Enterprise Institute - - - 570,781 87,783 190,000 - 848,564
American Islamic Congress - - 156,005 326,147 30,483 82,200 - 438,830
Aspen Institute - - - 150,000 15,000 - - 165,000
Atlas Economic Research Foundation - - 1,172,486 1,206,755 15,000 376,414 - 2,770,655
Cato Institute - - - - 207,000 23,000 - 230,000
Center for Strategic and International Studies - - - - 71,999 23,999 - 95,998
Fraser Institute - - - - - 186,290 - 186,290
FreedomWorks - - - - 689,873 76,652 - 766,525
Hudson Institute - - 280,250 176,000 76,834 134,886 - 667,970
Institute for Humane Studies - - - 739,410 332,734 240,308 - 1,312,452
LibForAll - - 74,983 - 236,012 472,016 - 783,011
Manhattan Institute - - - 1,500,000 450,000 450,000 - 2,400,000
Philanthropy Roundtable - - 650,000 300,000 200,000 150,000 - 1,300,000
Quilliam Foundation - - 174,248 399,647 578,928 371,388 - 1,524,191

People

In 1995, John Templeton yielded the presidency of the foundation to his son Jack Templeton, a former paediatric surgeon. Jack was the chairman of Let Freedom Ring, Inc, which financed various conservative causes. He also contributed to both campaigns of former US president George Bush. [11]

Jack Templeton died in 2015, after which his daughter Heather Templeton Dill took over leadership of the foundation. [12]

Contact

John Templeton Foundation
300 Conshohocken State Road
Suite 500
West Conshohocken, PA 19428 USA
Telephone: (610) 941-2828
Fax: (610) 825-1730

Notes

  1. Foundation at a Glance, John Templeton Foundation, accessed 31 October 1987.
  2. Nathan Schneider, God, Science and Philanthropy, The Nation, 3 June 2010.
  3. Our Mission, John Templeton Foundation website, accessed 10 March 2017.
  4. Home, John Templeton Foundation website, accessed 10 March 2017.
  5. John Templeton Foundation, form 990, 2014
  6. Data compiled from yearly 990 forms
  7. John Templeton 2011 990 Form
  8. John Templeton 2012 990 Form
  9. John Templeton 2013 990 Form
  10. John Templeton 2014 990 Form
  11. John Horgan, The Templeton Foundation: A skeptic's take, Edge, 4 April 2006, accessed 10 March 2017.
  12. add ref