Heinz Awards honor 6 individuals
Winners recognized for innovation in solving global challenges
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Six individuals have been named recipients of the Heinz Awards for making innovative contributions to solving global challenges in the arts, environment, education and public policy.
The Heinz Family Foundation announced the winners Tuesday and said each will receive an unrestricted cash award of $250,000.
The awards were established to honor the memory of U.S. Sen. H. John Heinz III, who died in 1991. The recipients are: • Arts and Humanities, Ralph Lemon,a New York-based multidisciplinary artist whose work combines contemporary dance with theater and visual art in pieces that have themes of race, spirituality, heritage and identity.
• Environment, Ming Kuo, an environmental psychologist based at the University of Illinois who studies the benefits of natural green spaces in urban environments on human health and cognitive development in children.
• Human Condition, Norman Atkins, cofounder of the Relay Graduate School of Education in New York, which trains public school teachers and principals to focus on practical outcomes for students as well as educational theory.
• Public Policy, Sherri Mason, chair of the department of geology and environmental sciences at the State University of New York, Fredonia, whose research focuses on plastic pollution in freshwater systems, particularly the Great Lakes.
• Public Policy, Enric Sala, a marine ecologist and explorer-in-residence at the National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C., whose research focuses on conservation of pristine ocean places.
• Technology, the Economy and Employment, Linda Rottenberg, chief executive and co-founder of Endeavor, a New York nonprofit that provides training and mentorship to entrepreneurs in emerging countries.
Teresa Heinz, chair of the Heinz Family Foundation, said, the winners “are exemplary in their area of discipline, and more importantly, demonstrate an unwavering determination to overcome obstacles to create change, foster good and inspire new thinking.”