Muhammad Ali receives Grawemeyer Spirit Award

The University of Louisville today presented Muhammad Ali with the inaugural Grawemeyer Spirit Award in a public ceremony at the Louisville Palace attended by nearly 1,000.  View photos

The Grawemeyer Spirit Award was established to recognize an individual whose beliefs, actions and worldwide impact are in accord with Charles Grawemeyer’s reason for founding the awards program that bears his name. The UofL graduate, industrialist, entrepreneur and philanthropist wanted to recognize innovative ideas and inspire others to make the world a better place. He began the awards in 1984 with an initial endowment of $9 million. The first award was given in 1985.

“Although Mr. Ali and Charles Grawemeyer traveled very different paths in life, their destinations are similar,” said UofL President James Ramsey at the awards ceremony. “A world where every individual’s worth is cause for celebration; a world in which inspiration plus action can lead to transformation; a world where each of us can make positive change by discovering our own greatness.”

The Grawemeyer Awards are given each year in five categories: music composition, education, religion, psychology and political science. The awards draw nominations from around the world and, to date, more than $14 million has been given to 133 winners. The Grawemeyer Spirit Award includes a $100,000 honorarium, a portion of which Muhammad and Lonnie Ali have used to establish a leadership scholarship with the UofL baseball team.

“Muhammad is honored to be recognized by the University of Louisville and the Grawemeyer Awards Committee with the very first H. Charles Grawemeyer Spirit Award,” said Lonnie Ali. “In accepting this award, we are reminded that Muhammad’s life continues to inspire generations of people to discover and cultivate their own path to greatness and to use their talents and successes to empower others in communities all over the world. This award allows Muhammad’s legacy, like Charles Grawemeyer’s legacy, to live on through the people they inspire.”

Journalist and UofL alumnus Howard Fineman, global editorial director of the Huffington Post Media Group, was master of ceremonies for the event, which also included a photo retrospective by longtime Ali photographer Neil Leifer.

Today’s ceremony kicked off a monthslong series of Grawemeyer Awards 30^th Anniversary Celebration events, including lectures by award recipients.