On Friday, September 16, Michael Novak, Director of Social and Political Studies at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington , D.C. presented a lecture entitled, "Business as a Calling". This lecture took place from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the Jordan Auditorium of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business.
Theologian, author, and former U.S. ambassador, Michael Novak currently holds the George Frederick Jewett Chair in Religion and Public Policy at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., where he is Director of Social and Political Studies.
In 1974, Mr. Novak campaigned for the creation of a White House Office of Ethnic Affairs. The office was opened during the Ford administration, continued under President Carter, and Mr. Novak served as an advisor during both administrations.
Mr. Novak was appointed and served as: Ambassador of the U.S. Delegation to the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva, 1981-1982; head of the U.S. Delegation to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (the monitor of the Helsinki Accords), 1986; with Senate approval, member of the Board for International Broadcasting (the private corporation that governs Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty), 1984-1994; member of the Presidential Task Force on Project Economic Justice, 1985. He has served the United States during both Democratic and Republican administrations.
He graduated (Summa Cum Laude) from Stonehill College (B.A., Philosophy and English) in 1956 and the Gregorian University in Rome (B.A. Theology, Cum Laude) in 1958. He continued theological studies at Catholic University and then at Harvard, where he received an M.A. in 1966 in History and the Philosophy of Religion.
Mr. Novak has written some twenty-five influential books on the philosophy and theology of culture. He has also received the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion (a million-dollar purse awarded at Buckingham Palace ) in 1994, and delivered the Templeton address in Westminster Abbey. He has also received the Boyer Award in 1999; with Milton Friedman and Vaclav Klaus the International Prize by the Institution for World Capitalism; the Antony Fisher Prize for The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism presented by Margaret Thatcher; the Weber Award for contributions to the Catholic Social Thought in Essen, Germany; the Cezanne Medal from the City of Provence, and the Catholic Culture Medal of Bassano del Grappa in Italy; the highest civilian award from the Slovak Republic in 1996; the Masaryk Medal, presented by Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic, in 2000; the Gold Medal of The Pennyslvania Society in 2001; and the Medal of the Italian Senate from the Pio Manzù Centre, with a citation from its president, Mikhail Gorbachev.
Born in Johnstown , Pennsylvania , in 1933, Michael Novak is married to Karen Laub Novak, a professional artist and illustrator. They have three children (Richard, Tanya, and Jana) and three grandchildren.
Sponsored by:
Mendoza College of Business
Center for Ethics and Culture
Jacques Maritain Center
