PRESS RELEASE
Villanova University Chosen to Host Prestigious 2023 Opus Prize
VILLANOVA, Pa. - The Opus Foundation has selected Villanova University to host the 2023 Opus Prize, an annual faith-based humanitarian award—whose $1 million award and two $100,000 prizes make up one of the world's largest faith-based awards for social entrepreneurship. The prestigious honor recognizes individuals or organizations who champion faith-filled change and are working to solve the world’s most persistent social issues.
Each year, the Opus Foundation partners with a Catholic university to oversee the process of identifying nominees, selecting finalists, participating in due-diligence site visits, planning the awards week on campus, and most importantly, inspiring others to ignite change in their respective work and organizations.
“On behalf of the entire Villanova community, we are honored to partner with the Opus Prize Foundation to host the 2023 award,” said University President the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD. “As Villanovans, our University mission calls us to ignite change, and the Opus Prize Foundation embodies this mission by supporting organizations addressing the world’s most pressing social problems. We look forward to infusing our Villanova values and traditions to this year’s event, and to helping identify the finalists deserving of this prestigious honor.”
The committee consists of students, faculty, staff and alumni from across campus who will be responsible for bringing Villanova values and traditions to this year’s Opus Prize, which will be centered around the theme of “Awakening Restless Hearts.” Nick Tumolo, Director of University Events and Initiatives; and Alicia Dunphy-Culp, Senior Director of First-Year Experiences and Special Assistant to the Vice President for Student Life, will co-chair the committee on behalf of the University.
The Opus Prize will be awarded to the finalists during a ceremony on campus November 9, 2023. For more information, please visit the Villanova University Opus Prize website (www.villanova.edu/university/opus-prize).
About The Opus Prize Foundation: The Opus Prize Foundation is a private and independent nonprofit foundation. Established in 1994 by the founding chairman of earlier Opus Companies, the Opus Prize Foundation is a self-sufficient foundation independent from The Opus Group. The foundation selects universities as partners to organize and execute the Opus Prize selection process and award ceremony. Through these partnerships, students are challenged to think globally and inspired to live lives of service.
About Villanova University: Since 1842, Villanova University’s Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University's six colleges—the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the M. Louise Fitzpatrick College of Nursing, the College of Professional Studies and the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Ranked among the nation’s top universities, Villanova supports its students’ intellectual growth and prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them. For more, visit www.villanova.edu
