Featured Grant
Thrift and American Culture:
Exploring the Science and Practice of Thrift
A multiyear initiative of the Institute for American Values, under the leadership of David Blankenhorn, this grant supports interdisciplinary research and public education to examine the history of thrift as an American value. It also aims to bring together leaders from across the political spectrum in a national conversation on thrift.
Research findings were made public at a conference in Washington, DC this May and were released in a report called For a New Thrift: Confronting the Debt Culture. The report addresses the linked problems of overindebtedness, lack of savings, and growing inequality in the United States. In a recent column in the New York Times, David Brooks called it "one of the most important think-tank reports you'll read this year." The thrift initiative has received coverage in the Washington Post, the American Interest, and other publications. Blankenhorn is also the author of a new compendium, Thrift: A Cyclopedia, to be published in August by the Templeton Foundation Press. More »
Core Themes
In keeping with Sir John Templeton's intent, his Foundation serves as a philanthropic catalyst for research and discoveries relating to what scientists and philosophers call the Big Questions. We support work at the world's top universities in such fields as theoretical physics, cosmology, evolutionary biology, cognitive science, and social science relating to love, forgiveness, creativity, purpose, and the nature and origin of religious belief. We also seek to stimulate new thinking about wealth creation in the developing world, character education in schools and universities, and programs for cultivating the talents of gifted children. Learn more about the Foundation's "Core Themes."
Funding Areas
Click on the funding areas below for an overview and a sampling of grant profiles.
Long-time JTF grantee William Damon of Stanford University spoke recently about his new book The Path to Purpose: Helping Our Children Find Their Calling in Life (Simon & Schuster) at a Templeton Book Forum in New York City.
For video of a previous Templeton Book Forum, featuring Jonathan Rosen, author of The Life of the Skies: Birding at the End of Nature (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), click here. For a short interview with Rosen, click here.
