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Sandy Award

Sanford N. McDonnell Award for Lifetime Achievement in Character Education

Each year, Character.org honors one individual for his or her long and steadfast commitment to the field of character education. The person receives our “Sanford N. McDonnell Award for Lifetime Achievement in Character Education.”

Professor James Arthur is the founding director of the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues (UK), the leading research center in the world dedicated to the study of character. The Centre has published dozens of reports, statements, and publications that inspired leaders in schools, the military, and more. 

Professor Arthur has also written many books on character, including Teaching VirtueEducation with CharacterThe Formation of Character, and Of Good Character.  He was Editor of the British Journal of Educational Studies for ten years and holds numerous honorary titles, including Honorary Professor at the University of Glasgow, Faculty Affiliate at Harvard University, Senior Fellow of Boston College, and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Oxford. 

James was made an Officer of the British Empire by the Queen in 2018 and in 2020 won the internationally prestigious Expanded Reason Award from the Ratzinger Foundation in the Vatican.

“We are honored to recognize James as our 2024 Sandy Award recipient,” says Dr. Arthur Schwartz, president of Character.org. “Millions of students around the world have been positively impacted by his visionary and bold leadership as founder of the Jubilee Center, a pioneering research center focussing on character, virtues, and the seedbeds of human flourishing.”

Highlights of the significant impact the Jubilee Centre has achieved since it was formed include:

  • Collaborated with international partners and individuals in over 175 countries;
  • Established the world’s first distance-learning MA in Character Education
  • Published over 350 academics publications in top tier journals with global reach;
  • Established the preeminent international annual conference in the field, held annually in Oxford;
  • Published the Framework for Character Education that won the overall QS Reimagine Education award in 2022;
  • Undertaken over 20 extensive research projects; the impact has been rated 4* in two REF submissions.

Overview

The “Sandy Award” is named in honor of Sandy McDonnell, one of the driving forces behind the current character education movement in the United States. Sandy dedicated much of his adult life to catalyzing the field of character development, with a special focus on K-12 schools. He was the Founding Chair and inspirational leader of Character.org (then known as Character Education Partnership or CEP) until his death in 2012. He also founded CharacterPlus in St. Louis, and served as National President of the Boy Scouts of America. During his tenure as CEO of McDonnell Douglas Aircraft, Sandy instituted a company-wide ethics program based on the Scout’s promise he learned as a teen.


Selection Criteria

The Selection Committee shall consider any individual who has made a significant and steadfast impact on the field of character development and education, nationally or internationally.

The committee shall consider notable contributions across a wide range of activities, including Social-Emotional Learning, positive youth development, moral education, Whole Child education, and various other approaches that aim to positively influence the character development of children and youth.

The committee shall consider national and/or international impact to be substantiated through examples provided by the nominator. The nomination form needs to demonstrate and offer evidence that the nominee has:

• Influenced policy, research, and/or practice
• Been a change agent or creator of innovations
• Widely disseminated a character development program as a catalytic leader