Akbar Ganji, the 2010 Prize recipient.

The keynote address at the 2010 Dinner will be delivered by Pulitzer-prize winning columnist George Will.

May 13, 2010  ·  Washington D.C.  ·  Hilton Washington

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 winner for 2010 is Akbar Ganji, an Iranian writer and journalist who spent six years in prison for advocating a secular democracy and exposing government involvement in the assassination of individuals who opposed Iran's theocratic regime.

The prize, a cash award of $500,000, will be presented to Akbar Ganji on May 13, 2010, at the Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty's Biennial Dinner at the Hilton Washington in Washington D.C. The schedule for the black tie event: 6:30 p.m. reception, 7:30 p.m. dinner.

Please Note:

Table location will be available under guests’ names at registration. For those guests whose names we do not receive, table location will be available under your name at registration. Self parking at the Hilton Washington for the event will be $20. Valet Parking is available at the T Street entrance of the hotel, and will be $35. For overnight guests, parking will be $28 per day. 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 Yana Vinnikov at yvinnikov@cato.org or 202-218-4617.

The selection committee members for the 2010 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; Antonio Martino, former Italian defense minister; and Frederick W. Smith, chairman and CEO, FedEx Corporation.