CEI to Recognize Entrepreneurship and George Will’s Promethean Contributions at Julian L. Simon Memorial Dinner in September

The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) is pleased to announce award winners and speakers for the annual Julian L. Simon Memorial Award Dinner on Thursday, September 19 in Washington, D.C.

The 2024 Julian L. Simon Memorial Award will be presented to Magatte Wade, an entrepreneur, author, and speaker dedicated to unlocking prosperity in Africa through entrepreneurship and innovation. The award honors Julian Simon’s vision of mankind as the ultimate resource by recognizing current, exceptional work advancing that vision. A native of Senegal, Wade is the author of “The Heart of A Cheetah: How We Have Been Lied to about African Poverty, and What That Means for Human Flourishing” (2023) and co-founder of Prospera Africa.

For the second time in its 40-year history, CEI will also present the Prometheus Award for Human Achievement. The 2024 winner is Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist George F. Will, who writes a twice-weekly column for the Washington Post on politics and domestic and foreign affairs and is the author of “American Happiness and Discontents: The Unruly Torrent 2008-2020” (2021) and “The Conservative Sensibility” (2019) among other books. The award recognizes Mr. Will’s lifetime contributions to intellectual, political, and civic life. He will deliver the keynote address to dinner attendees.

“We are excited to recognize two individuals who have made invaluable contributions to humanity,” said CEI President and CEO Kent Lassman. “Magatte Wade gives voice to entrepreneurs everywhere who are failed by state institutions. She is a fierce advocate for Africans, Senegalese women, and anyone willing to take a risk to improve the lives of others through free enterprise. Her work exemplifies the legacy of Julian Simon and is a testament to the age-old formula that human dignity plus accountability leads to greater prosperity for all.

“George F. Will is a civic, intellectual, and political titan of our age. Prometheus sparked the flame that gave rise to civilization and Will lights the fire of moral imagination required for free people to pursue their own life, in their own way.”

The event on September 19 will celebrate CEI’s 40^th anniversary and will be held at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. CEI’s Jessica Melugin will emcee the event. This year, our theme will celebrate “Prometheus: Rebel for Humanity,” the titan who stole fire from the gods to deliver knowledge, progress, technology, empathy, and civil society to humankind.

Event information:

Julian L. Simon Memorial Award Dinner

Thursday, September 19, 2024, 6:00pm – 12:00am ET

Washington National Cathedral

Bios:

Simon Awardee

Magatte Wade is an advocate for African prosperity through free enterprise and affordable, abundant, and reliable energy. She is co-founder of Prospera Africa, which is bringing the Prospera model of new free market jurisdictions to Africa and the founder of SkinIsSkin.com, which manufactures products in Africa. She is the author of The Heart of a Cheetah:  How We Have Been Lied to about African Poverty, and What that Means for Human Flourishing. She has appeared on TED Global, Jordan Peterson, Reason, Lex Fridman, Robert Breedlove, Michael Malice, Liv Boree, and many other podcasts and has spoken at Harvard, MIT, UC Berkeley, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, and many other universities. She was born in Senegal, educated in France, launched her career in the US and is fluent in Wolof, French, and English.

Prometheus Awardee and Keynote

George Will writes a twice-weekly column on politics and domestic and foreign affairs. He began his column with The Post in 1974, and he received the Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 1977. He is also a regular contributor to MSNBC and NBC News. His latest book, “American Happiness and Discontents,” was released in September 2021. His other works include: “The Conservative Sensibility” (2019), “One Man’s America: The Pleasures and Provocations of Our Singular Nation” (2008), “Restoration: Congress, Term Limits and the Recovery of Deliberative Democracy” (1992), “Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball” (1989), “The New Season: A Spectator’s Guide to the 1988 Election” (1987) and “Statecraft as Soulcraft” (1983). Will grew up in Champaign, Ill., attended Trinity College and Oxford University, and received a PhD from Princeton University. 

Honors and Awards: 1977 Pulitzer Prize for commentary; 1979 National Magazine Awards: Finalist in the essay and criticism category; 1978 National Headliners Award; 1980 Silurian Award for editorial writing; 1985 The Washington Journalism Review named Will best writer, any subject; 1997 Named among the 25 most influential Washington journalists by the National Journal

Mistress of Ceremonies

Jessica Melugin is director of the Center for Technology and Innovation at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Her research focuses on technology issues including antitrust, online privacy, artificial intelligence, telecommunications, social media content, and net neutrality regulation. She is the Innovators Network Foundation Antitrust and Competition Policy Fellow.