Awards Honor Those Who Continue Their Labor

To a San Francisco-based think tank, life begins at 60. So does eligibility for its new cash-laden national prize, being announced today, that rewards Americans who work to solve society's problems and encourages them not to slow down with age.

The inaugural Purpose Prize awards provide $100,000 each to five individuals and teams who were selected as role models for the huge cohort of baby boomers about to plunge into their seventh decade -- as both President Bush and former President Clinton recently did, with some joking and bemoaning.

While some post-60ish people are devoting their time to golf or bridge, the Purpose Prize winners are part of "a growing cadre of individuals who are harvesting their midlife experience and using it in creative and innovative ways," said Marc Freedman, president of the Civic Ventures think tank, which sponsors the prize.

Among the winners are UCLA computer science professor and Encino resident Judea Pearl and American University professor Akbar Ahmed, who are partners in promoting Muslim-Jewish understanding in the wake of the 2002 murder of Pearl's son, journalist Daniel Pearl. The two men speak around the country at colleges and other public forums, tackling such issues as how to encourage peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

The prize "reminds me of something that I tend to forget: that I am over 60," Pearl said in an interview before the award was publicly announced.

Pearl, who turned 70 on Monday, said he would devote his $50,000 to the Daniel Pearl Foundation, which the family founded in honor of the late Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped and killed by Islamic militants in Pakistan. The organization sponsors such activities as fellowships for international journalists and a world music festival.

Ahmed, 63, a former Pakistani diplomat who now is the department chairman of Islamic Studies at American University in Washington, D.C., said the award is a good counterbalance to American secular culture's obsession with youth.

"Muslim culture is somewhat different," he said in a telephone interview. "The older you are, the wiser you are considered, the more status and more authority you have. There is no conflict with people doing remarkable things at this age."

The prize also reflects "American generosity and friendship in reaching out to Muslims" at a time of tension between the U.S. and the Muslim world, Ahmed said.