The John Templeton Foundation funds a range of research initiatives at the University of Chicago across several disciplines, including astronomy and cosmology, economics, enterprise solutions to poverty, ethics, culture and markets, neuroscience, psychology, purpose, sociology, theology of nature, virtue theory and research, and wisdom. As of early 2009, grants to the university, including the business and divinity schools, and NORC, have totaled more than $22 million.
Astronomy and Cosmology
New Vision 400: Engaging Big Questions in Astronomy and Cosmology Four Hundred Years after the Invention of the Telescope
Donald G. York, Horace B. Horton Professor in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics
University of Chicago
Jiansheng Chen, Chair
Department of Astronomy, School of Physics
Peking University (Beijing, P. R. China)
These grants supported the international Templeton-Xiangshan New Vision 400 Conference and associated programs in October 2008, in conjunction with the John Templeton Foundation's International Board of Advisors Meeting in Beijing. The conference included a Young Scholars Competition, as well as an invitation for research proposals from Chinese astronomers and cosmologists. This project celebrates the history of the telescope in advancing scientific discovery and explores "big questions" about humankind and the origins and purpose of the universe. Projected outcomes include an edited volume and numerous publications from the RFP winners.
Economics
Understanding Human Nature to Harness Human Potential
Richard Thaler, Ralph and Dorothy Keller Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Affiliated Faculty:
Eugene Caruso
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Nicholas Epley
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Ayelet Fishbach
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Linda Ginzel
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Noah Goldstein
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Reid Hastie
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Christopher Hsee
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Joshua Klayman
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Aparna Labroo
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Ann McGill
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Tanya Menon
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Suresh Ramanathan
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Jane Risen
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Oleg Urminsky
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Bernd Wittenbrink
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
George Wu
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
The Human Nature/Human Potential Program at the University of Chicago's Center for Decision Research brings together scholars in cognitive science, social psychology, economics, mathematics, and law. This interdisciplinary program supports research to identify basic features of human nature (such as altruism, aspiration, happiness, humility, optimism, purpose, spirituality, successful aging, thrift, and wisdom) that suggest new avenues for human potential, to establish empirical grounds for positive behavioral outcomes, and to develop real-world applications based on this knowledge to improve human life.
Enterprise Solutions to Poverty
Discovering the Power of Free Enterprise to Create Wealth and Alleviate Poverty through a New Applied General Equilibrium Enterprise Economics
Robert M. Townsend, Research Professor
Department of Economics
University of Chicago
and Elizabeth and James Killian Professor of Economics
Department of Economics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
Senior Research Team:
Gary S. Becker, Nobel Laureate
University Professor
Departments of Economics, Booth School of Business, and Sociology
University of Chicago
James J. Heckman, Nobel Laureate
Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor
Department of Economics
University of Chicago
Robert E. Lucas, Jr., Nobel Laureate
John Dewey Distinguished Service Professor of Economics
Department of Economics
University of Chicago
Fernando Alvarez
Department of Economics
University of Chicago
Lars Hansen, Homer J. Livingston Distinguished Service Professor
Department of Economics
University of Chicago
Ali Hortaçsu
Department of Economics
University of Chicago
Alan Kolata, Neukom Family Distinguished Service Professor of Anthropology and of Social Sciences
Department of Anthropology
University of Chicago
Kevin Murphy, George J. Stigler Distinguished Service Professor of Economics
Booth School of Business
University of Chicago
Abhijit Banerjee, Ford Foundation International Professor of Economics
Co-Director, Poverty Action Lab
Department of Economics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
Esther Duflo, Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics
Co-Director, Poverty Action Lab
Department of Economics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
Mark Rosenzweig, Frank Altschul Professor of International Economics
Director, Economic Growth Center
Department of Economics
Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut)
Christopher Udry, Henry J. Heinz II Professor of Economics
Chair, Department of Economics
Yale University (New Haven, Connecticut)
This three-year project is a collaborative research initiative among senior researchers at the University of Chicago, the Poverty Action Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Economic Growth Center at Yale University. The establishment of a new field of economics - Applied General Equilibrium Enterprise Economics ("AGE3" or "Enterprise Economics") - will allow deep innovation and multidisciplinary study toward free enterprise-based solutions to poverty. This research leverages $8.75 million in NICHD and NSF funding for research on enterprise and will generate new knowledge on free enterprise, wealth creation, and poverty alleviation.
Ethics, Culture and Markets
Optimism, Economic Success, and Free Markets, and The Impact of Education on Optimism and Economic Success
Luigi G. Zingales, Robert C. McCormack Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance
University of Chicago Booth School of Business
550 MBA candidates at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business will be studied in-depth as the initial set in the Templeton Chicago MBA Longitudinal Sample. This research will consider a causal link between optimism and economic outcomes and examine how optimism contributes to the economic self-realization of individuals and the functioning of free markets.
Neuroscience
Expanding Spiritual Knowledge Through Science: Chicago Multidisciplinary Research Network
John T. Cacioppo, Tiffany & Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor
Director, Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience
Director, Arete Initiative
University of Chicago
Affiliated Faculty:
Gary G. Berntson
Departments of Psychology, Psychiatry & Pediatrics
Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio)
Jarett D. Berry, M.D.
University of Chicago
Dorret Boomsma, Head of Department
Department of Biological Psychology
Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research
Free University (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Mary E. Brandon, Ph.D., Associate Dean
Division of the Social Sciences
University of Chicago
Farr Curlin
MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics
Department of Medicine, Division of Biological Sciences
University of Chicago
Jean Decety
Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry
Co-Director, Brain Research Imaging Center (BRIC)
University of Chicago
Wendy Doniger, Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions
Divinity School
University of Chicago
Nicholas Epley, Neubauer Family Faculty Fellow
Booth School of Business
University of Chicago
W. Clark Gilpin, Margaret E. Burton Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Christianity and Theology
Divinity School
University of Chicago
Louise C. Hawkley, Senior Research Scientist
Associate Director, Social Neuroscience Laboratory
University of Chicago
Tanya Luhrmann
Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology
Stanford University (Stanford, California)
Christopher M. Masi
Department of Medicine, Division of Biological Sciences
University of Chicago
Howard Nusbaum, Chair
Department of Psychology
University of Chicago
Professor Gün Semin
Netherlands Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences
Free University (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Steven L. Small
Departments of Neurology and Psychology
Co-director, Brain Research Imaging Center, Human Neuroscience Laboratory
University of Chicago
Kathryn E. Tanner, Dorothy Grant Maclear Professor of Theology
Divinity School
University of Chicago
Ronald A. Thisted
Departments of Statistics, Health Studies, Anesthesia & Critical Care
The Committee on Clinical Pharmacology
University of Chicago
Penny S. Visser
Department of Psychology
University of Chicago
Linda J. Waite, Lucy Flower Professor in Urban Sociology
Co-Director, MD/PhD Program in Medicine, the Social Sciences, and Aging
University of Chicago
This grant supports the establishment of the University of Chicago-Templeton Network, an interdisciplinary and collaborative group of scholars interested in investigating sociality and spirituality from the perspective of contemporary cognitive and social neuroscience. The Network pursues specific research studies that leverage an ongoing $7.9 million NIH grant to study the effects of sociality, spirituality, and meaning-making on well-being and health, and to employ social-psychological and neuroscientific theories and methods to examine the possible mechanisms underlying these effects.
Cortical Mechanisms of the Positive Consequences of Good Acts, Connectedness, and Spirituality
Howard Nusbaum, Chair
Department of Psychology
Co-Director, Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience
University of Chicago
This grant supports two interrelated projects which investigate how spirituality and social connectedness interact in the neural mechanisms that mediate both prosocial behavior and spiritual experiences. This exploratory research seeks to understand how the brain processes religious and social information in producing moral states and how such states lead to prosocial behaviors that are not intrinsically religious.
Psychology
Working Beyond Boundaries: University of Chicago-Templeton Consortium on the Scientific Study of Sociality and Spirituality
John T. Cacioppo, Tiffany & Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor
Director, Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience
Director, Arete Initiative
University of Chicago
Affiliated Faculty:
Gary G. Berntson
Departments of Psychology, Psychiatry & Pediatrics
Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio)
Dorret Boomsma, Head of Department
Department of Biological Psychology
Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research
Free University (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Farr Curlin
MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics
Department of Medicine, Division of Biological Sciences
University of Chicago
Nicholas Epley, Neubauer Family Faculty Fellow
Booth School of Business
University of Chicago
W. Clark Gilpin, Margaret E. Burton Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Christianity and Theology
Divinity School
University of Chicago
Louise C. Hawkley, Senior Research Scientist
Associate Director, Social Neuroscience Laboratory
University of Chicago
Tanya Luhrmann
Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology
Stanford University (Stanford, California)
Christopher M. Masi
Department of Medicine, Division of Biological Sciences
University of Chicago
Howard Nusbaum, Chair
Department of Psychology
University of Chicago
Professor Gün Semin
Netherlands Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences
Free University (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Steven L. Small
Departments of Neurology and Psychology
Co-director, Brain Research Imaging Center, Human Neuroscience Laboratory
University of Chicago
Kathryn E. Tanner, Dorothy Grant Maclear Professor of Theology
Divinity School
University of Chicago
Ronald A. Thisted
Departments of Statistics, Health Studies, Anesthesia & Critical Care
The Committee on Clinical Pharmacology
University of Chicago
Penny S. Visser
Department of Psychology
University of Chicago
Linda J. Waite, Lucy Flower Professor in Urban Sociology
Co-Director, MD/PhD Program in Medicine, the Social Sciences, and Aging
University of Chicago
This grant supports the transformation of the University of Chicago-Templeton Network into a Consortium of scientists and scholars, committed to using rigorous scientific approaches, enriched by theology and philosophy, to study the biological, behavioral, and health effects of social and spiritual connection on human flourishing. The Consortium seeks to refine, specify, and disseminate a new rigorous, interdisciplinary, epistemological approach to the scientific study of sociality and spirituality; to serve as a collaborative hub based at the University of Chicago for advancing the scientific study of spirituality and sociality; and to extend the Consortium's impact on the broader scientific and scholarly community and the public.
Purpose
Secrets of Successful Aging: How Exemplary Individuals Find Purpose and Flourish through Late Adulthood
Penny S. Visser
Department of Psychology
University of Chicago
This grant supports research into the processes that promote successful aging. Particular attention will be paid to two potential sources of purpose and meaning: 1) deep religious or spiritual convictions, and 2) an abiding commitment to stepping outside of oneself to serve others. The research will include a national survey with large-scale quantitative analysis of older adults, complemented by in-depth follow-up with exemplary individuals to identify factors that have enabled them to flourish.
Sociology
The Changing Role of Religion and Spirituality Around the World: Augmenting the Core Questions of the 2006 General Social Survey [GSS] and Augmenting the 2008 International Social Survey Program [ISSP]
James A. Davis, Senior Lecturer
Department of Sociology
University of Chicago
Peter V. Marsden
Department of Sociology
Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts)
Tom W. Smith, Senior Fellow and Director, Center for the Study of Politics and Society
National Opinion Research Center [NORC] at the University of Chicago
This suite of grants augments funding for two major surveys. Additional items about religion and spirituality will be included in the 2006 and 2008 General Social Survey [GSS], the largest and longest-term initiative supported by the Sociology Program of the National Science Foundation and the most frequently analyzed data set in the social sciences beside the US Census. The International Social Survey Program [ISSP] 2008 cross-national study is designed to learn about the role that religion and spirituality play in society and human development around the world. The past ISSP study on religion will be expanded to include 5 countries whose religious traditions are underrepresented among the 40 countries participating in the ISSP.
Theology of Nature
Without Nature? A New Condition for Theology
William Schweiker, Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor of Theological Ethics
Director, Martin Marty Center for the Advanced Study of Religion
Divinity School
University of Chicago
This grant provided partial support for a conference investigating the viability of "nature" as a point of intersection for dialogue across science and humanities disciplines, whether "human nature" as studied by the social sciences or the "natural environment" as studied by the physical sciences.
Virtue Theory and Research
Catalyzing a New Science of Virtue: A Request for Proposals Research Initiative
Jean Bethke Elshtain, Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics in the Divinity School, and
Department of Political Science and the Committee on International Relations
University of Chicago
Don S. Browning, Alexander Campbell Professor Emeritus of Ethics and the Social Sciences
Divinity School
University of Chicago
Howard Nusbaum
Chair, Department of Psychology
University of Chicago
This initiative to stimulate innovative scientific research about the nature and potential of human virtue is administered by the Arete Initiative at the University of Chicago. The program is designed to encourage the development of a science of virtue as a new field of scholarly and scientific inquiry, taking as its central question, In what ways might the sciences and humanities collaborate to develop more adequate models of virtue for modern societies?
Wisdom
Defining Wisdom: Advancing New Knowledge on the Nature and Benefits of Wisdom
John T. Cacioppo, Tiffany & Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor
Director, Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience
Director, Arete Initiative
University of Chicago
Howard Nusbaum, Chair
Department of Psychology
University of Chicago
The core purpose of this initiative is to stimulate progress on the scientific study of wisdom - its nature, cultivation, benefits, and applications. The Wisdom Website is the hub of an electronic network and a central resource for the study of wisdom. The interdisciplinary Wisdom Research Network connects the Project Council, researchers, as well as other individuals and networks discovered over the course of this initiative, to a collaborative network of scholars and scientists working to promote new discoveries on the nature and benefits of wisdom. A scholarly, edited volume of this research is anticipated.
