Professor Benjamin Friedman awarded the Medal of the Italian Senate

Professor Benjamin Friedman awarded the Medal of the Italian Senate by the Pio Manzù Centre, the ceremony to present him with this award will be in October 19, 2008. Each year, the Centre is honored to receive a limited number of medals from the Italian Senate. This year, the Centre’s Scientific Committee proposes to award one of these medals to Prof. Friedman in recognition of his work regarding the moral consequences of economic growth.

Professor Friedman will also deliver one of the keynote speeches at October’s Pio Manzù Conference, which will be broadcast live by the Italians state television, RAI-DUE.

The award is given in recognition of “those who, through their humanitarian and professional commitment, their wisdom and far-sightedness, have worked for the future of the earth and for the dignity of various cultures and of every form of life.”

The Pio Manzù International Research Centre is a non-governmental organization of the United Nations and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and has been operating since 1969 as an institute for the in-depth study of the main economic and scientific aspects of the relationship between man and his environment. The Scientific Committee is headed by Mikhail Gorbachev, former president of the Soviet Union, and Giandomenico Picco, former UN Under-Secretary-General, New York.

The Centre's primary objective is to design and conduct global investigations into specific issues, drawing upon a broad range of expertise which it seeks to make available to those in the public, private and non-profit sectors whose task it is to devise prompt, effective action strategies.

Given its commitment to fostering peace and international collaboration through dialogue, the Presidents of the Italian Republic, Senate, Chamber of Deputies and Cabinet authorize the centre to award these medals. Friedman and the other medalists were chosen by the centre’s International Scientific Committee, which submitted names for approval to the awarding body.

For more information on The Pio Manzù International Research Centre and the Pio Manzù International conference, please see their website.

For more information on Professor Benjamin Friedman, please see his website.