Nico Perrino
“Show me the incentives and I’ll show you the outcome.” Right now, too many incentives in higher ed push scholars toward ideological conformity. I don’t know whether $1 million prizes will fix that, but it’s a start! I also like that the prize committee is intentionally cross-partisan, helping keep the prizes themselves from becoming partisan. This is similar to the approach @TheFIREorg’s early leaders took when assembling the board of advisers for our Guides to Student Rights on Campus. They deliberately sought people from across the political and ideological spectrum. The advisers ranged from liberal constitutional law professor and future Democratic congressman Jamie Raskin to Reagan administration Attorney General Ed Meese. “Think of yourself as a university president with a general counsel, and the arguments being presented to you have been endorsed by Jamie Raskin and Ed Meese,” FIRE cofounder Alan Charles Kors told me. His point was that universities would have a hard time dismissing arguments endorsed by people with such different politics. The same principle applies here. If these prizes are truly chosen on a nonpartisan basis, scholars will have a harder time dismissing them.
Bill Ackman
The Carob Trust is launching an academic prize to be awarded to up to five researchers each year. Our goal is to incentivize the pursuit and publication of the truth wherever the facts may lead. Unfortunately today, many findings go unpublished as researchers fear blowback from colleagues, the university, or large swathes of the public because their findings reveal an uncomfortable truth. Our goal with the prize is to reward academic courage and excellence. We welcome your submissions. Info on The Carob Trust and details on the prize can be found at the links below. A summary follows: https://www.thecarobtrust.org/ https://www.thecarobtrust.org/the-prize The Carob Trust Prize for Academic Courage Celebrating the Pursuit of Knowledge •Mission: The Carob Trust Prize honors academics who pursue bold ideas that challenge prevailing orthodoxies—whether political, intellectual, or methodological—and hold the potential to reshape knowledge, policy, or society. The Prize supports scholars whose work is original, rigorous, impactful, and courageous—even when it is unpopular. Award ◦$1,000,000 awarded over five years ◦Flexible, largely unrestricted support ◦Expect 3-5 awards a year Selection Criteria: ◦Intellectual Independence ◦Non-Conformist Ideas ◦Impact and Vindication Other Parameters: ◦Limited to work in the Social Sciences. ◦Only living nominees will be considered. ◦Candidates must be citizens or legal residents of the United States. ◦The Carob Trust Prize for Academic Courage will take a nominee’s life’s work into account. Scholars who are earlier in their careers might be considered for a smaller prize. Timeline ◦Nov. 1: Nomination window closes ◦Spring: Annual Carob Trust Prize Award Ceremony Spirit of the Prize: Breakthroughs often begin as unpopular ideas. By honoring those who show independence, courage, and resilience, the Carob Trust Prize ensures that today’s controversial insights have the chance to become tomorrow’s common sense.
