The Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, has announced that Beatrice Mtetwa has been named the recipient of the 2014 Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage. Mtetwa is a prominent human rights attorney in the Zimbabwe. Mtetwa will be the first woman to earn the award, which will be presented during a ceremony in Atlanta on November 13.
The Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage recognizes “individuals who, by standing up for clear moral principles in the social arena, have positively affected public discourse at the risk of their own careers, livelihoods and even their lives.” Ivan Allen Jr. was mayor of Atlanta in the early 1960s and testified before Congress urging passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The award was endowed by a gift from the Wilbur and Hilda Glenn Family Foundation. Winners of the award receive a $100,000 prize.