Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wins $1million Berggruen Prize for philosophy and culture – and donates the entire sum to charity
- The 86-year-old was announced as the winner on Wednesday, citing her pioneering legal work for gender equality and her support for the rule of law
- The institute says Ginsburg will donate all of the money to charity, but an exact recipient of the sum has not yet been confirmed
- Ginsburg has been severing on the Supreme Court since 1993 and is the oldest among the nine appointed justices
- Ginsburg, who has been treated for cancer twice in the past 10 months, plans to accept the award on December 16 at a ceremony at the New York Public Library
- In 1996 she gave $100,000 from one award to more than a dozen schools performing arts groups and civil rights organizations, records show
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is this year’s winner of the $1 million Berggruen Prize for her work in philosophy and culture – and the pop-culture action hero intends to pay the entire lump-sum forward.
The 86-year-old was announced as the winner by the Los Angeles-based Berggruen Institute on Wednesday, citing Ginsburg’s pioneering legal work for gender equality and her support for the rule of law.
The institute says Ginsburg will donate all of the money to charity, but an exact recipient of the sum has not yet been confirmed.
Ginsburg has been severing on the Supreme Court since 1993 and is the oldest among the nine appointed justices. She maintains an active public speaking schedule that took her to the San Francisco Bay Area earlier this week.
The 86-year-old was announced as the winner by the Los Angeles-based Berggruen Institute on Wednesday, citing Ginsburg’s pioneering legal work for gender equality and her support for the rule of law
Ginsburg spent the early part of her career as a professor at the Rutgers University law school in New Jersey and at Columbia University law school. She started the American Civil Liberties Union’s Women’s Rights Project in the 1970s.
Before the high court, she served as a federal appeals court judge in Washington DC for 13 years.
Ginsburg, who has been treated for cancer twice in the past 10 months, plans to accept the award on December 16 at a ceremony at the New York Public Library.
She was recently diagnosed with cancer for a fourth time after undergoing surgery last year to remove lumps from her lungs.
Ginsburg has been severing on the Supreme Court since 1993 and is the oldest among the nine appointed justices. She maintains an active public speaking schedule that took her to the San Francisco Bay Area earlier this week
The Berggruen Prize was established in 2016 by philanthropist Nicolas Berggruen to honor those who have ‘profoundly shaped human self-understanding and advancement.’
He’s a member of The Giving Pledge, a group of the world’s wealthiest people, including the likes of MacKenzie Bezos, ex-wife of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who have ‘dedicated a majority of their wealth to giving back.’
This will not be the first time Ginsburg has donated awards of large monetary sums to charity.
In 1996 she gave $100,000 from one award to more than a dozen schools performing arts groups and civil rights organizations, records show.