May 4, 2012  ·  Washington D.C.  ·  Washington Hilton

The Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, named in honor of perhaps the greatest champion of liberty in the 20th century, is presented every other year to an individual who has made a significant contribution to advance human freedom. The prize, a cash award of $250,000, will be presented at the Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty’s Biennial Dinner, May 4, 2012, in Washington D.C. at the Washington Hilton.

The late Nobel laureate Milton Friedman agreed in 2001 to lend his name to the prize, which has become the leading international award for acknowledging contributions to the promotion of individual liberty. In a statement at the time he said: "Those of us who were fortunate enough to live and be raised in a reasonably free society tend to underestimate the importance of freedom. We tend to take it for granted. It has made us in the West more complacent, so having a prize emphasizing liberty is extremely important." Dr. Friedman died in 2006.

For further information about the Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty's Biennial Dinner, please contact Lesley Albanese at lalbanese@cato.org or 202-789-5223; or Samantha Joest at sjoest@cato.org or 202-218-4617.

The selection committee members for the 2012 prize are:

Previous members of the International Selection Committee have included Rose D. Friedman, co-founder of the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation for School Choice; former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher; Václav Klaus, president of the Czech Republic; Francisco Gil Diaz, former Mexican finance minister; John Blundell, director general and Ralph Harris fellow of the Institute of Economic Affairs; and Antonio Martino, former Italian defense minister.