The Center for Inquiry presents the Richard Dawkins Award annually to a distinguished individual from the worlds of science, scholarship, education or entertainment, who publicly proclaims the values of secularism and rationalism, upholding scientific truth wherever it may lead.
It has been awarded each year since 2003 and was originally given by the Atheist Alliance of America in coordination with Richard Dawkins and the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science (RDFRS). Since 2019, the award has been given exclusively by the Center for Inquiry of which RDFRS is a part. Richard Dawkins must approve the recipient and bestows the award with a personal tribute to the awardee.
Award Winners
2022: Neil deGrasse Tyson
2021: Tim Minchin (Learn More)
2020: Javed Akhtar
2019: Ricky Gervais
2018: Stephen Fry
2017: David Silverman
2016: Lawrence M. Krauss
2015: Jerry Coyne
2014: Rebecca Goldstein
2013: Steven Pinker
2012: Eugenie Scott
2011: Christopher Hitchens
2010: Susan Jacoby
2009: Bill Maher
2008: Ayaan Hirsi Ali
2007: Daniel Dennett
2006: Julia Sweeney
2005: Penn & Teller
2004: Ann Druyan
2003: James Randi