Congratulations Rev. James V. Schall, S.J on his Award for Teaching and Human Letters!

Please join me in congratulating James Schall on the creation of The Rev. James V. Schall, S.J. Award for Teaching and Humane Letters.

A copy of the award is attached.

Well done, Jim!

The Tocqueville Forum
on the Roots of American Democracy



is pleased to announce the creation of

The Rev. James V. Schall, S.J. Award
for Teaching and Humane Letters

The Rev. James V. Schall, S.J. Award for Teaching and Humane Letters has been created to honor individuals who embody the teaching excellence and scholarly breadth and impact of the Rev. James V. Schall, S.J., Professor of Government at Georgetown University. A renowned teacher and prolific author, Fr. Schall’s contributions defending classical liberal learning and his engagement with the enduring questions about “what is” have influenced generations of students and readers. The award will be conferred annually upon an individual who shares Fr. Schall’s commitment to liberal education, the great books, and the philosophical and religious tradition of the West—above all the Catholic faith.

In creating the Rev. James V. Schall, S.J. Award, the Tocqueville Forum on the Roots of American Democracy honors the example of Fr. Schall and to call attention to the permanent need for such teachers and scholars. It further acknowledges the debt that students owe to great teachers. As Fr. Schall has written in his book A Student’s Guide to Liberal Learning, “students … ‘owe’ something to their teachers; to wit, their interest, their study habits, their good will, their diligence, their very capacity to learn something they do not already know….The kind of ‘owing’ I have in mind here reaches to issues of honor, of integrity, and above all, to the effort it takes to know the truth for its own sake.” The Rev. James V. Schall, S.J. Award will acknowledge our debt to truth-seeking teachers of integrity and honor.

Out of just such a sense of obligation, Michael Maibach of The Maibach Foundation has generously supported the creation of this award. The Tocqueville Forum is grateful for his generosity and will confer the annual award in the same spirit of gratitude with which it has been founded. The conferral of the first award is planned for Spring, 2008.

You may email your congratulation to Reverend James V. Schall, S.J. at:

schallj@georgetown.edu