[Not a valid template]Four people will be honored for their lifetime accomplishments with the 34th Annual Common Wealth Awards of Distinguished Service. The awards recognize individuals who have enriched modern society in a range of human endeavors.
The 2013 Common Wealth Award winners are:
• Alan Alda, actor, director and screenwriter, for Dramatic Arts;
• David McCullough, author and historian, for Literature;
• Jane Pauley, broadcast journalist, Today Show contributor and author, for Mass Communications;
• Martin Sheen, actor, social activist and humanitarian, for Public Service.
The honorees will be recognized at the Common Wealth Awards ceremony hosted by The PNC Financial Services Group on Saturday, April 20 at the Hotel du Pont in Wilmington.
The Common Wealth Awards of Distinguished Service were first presented in 1979 by The Common Wealth Trust which was created under the will of Ralph Hayes, a business executive and philanthropist. The awards are now made by The Ralph Hayes Common Wealth Foundation, which is funded by the Common Wealth Trust. PNC serves as trustee and administrator of the Trust.
In the 34-year history of the Common Wealth Awards, $5.6 million has been awarded to 185 honorees. The 2013 honorees will receive a shared award of $300,000.
“The 2013 Common Wealth Award honorees are people of distinction who have produced work of substantial influence and enduring relevance,” said PNC Regional President Nicholas M. Marsini, Jr. “We applaud these high achievers for their many accomplishments and look ahead with assurance to their continued contributions.”
Ralph Hayes, creator of the Common Wealth Awards, served on the board of directors of PNC Delaware’s predecessor banks from 1935 to 1965. Through the awards, he sought to recognize outstanding achievement in eight disciplines: dramatic arts, literature, science, invention, mass communications, public service, government, and sociology. The awards are also an incentive for individuals to make future contributions to the world community.
For three decades, the Common Wealth Awards have recognized heads of state, scientists and inventors, explorers, authors, performing artists and activists. Past winners include 11 Nobel laureates, among them, human rights leader Archbishop Desmond Tutu, statesman Henry Kissinger and authors Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Toni Morrison.
Other achievers on the Common Wealth Awards roster include former Secretary of State Colin Powell; H.M. Queen Noor of Jordan; dance legend Mikhail Baryshnikov; Hollywood icons Sidney Poitier and Meryl Streep; astronauts John Glenn and Buzz Aldrin; primatologist Jane Goodall; ocean explorer Robert Ballard; television journalists Christiane Amanpour and Wolf Blizter; and World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee.
