The Rupert and Timothy Smith Award for Distinguished Contributions to Pro-Life Scholarship

Each year UFFL bestows the The Rupert and Timothy Smith Award for Distinguished Contributions to Pro-Life Scholarship at its annual convention.  Because of their outstanding scholarly achievement and service of the pro-life movement, UFFL is proud to have honored the following UFFL Laureates:

2004 — Mr. Thomas Strahan, Esq. of Minnesota

2005 — Rev. Thomas King, S.J.,  (†2009) Professor of Theology at Georgetown University and founding President of UFFL

2006 — Prof. Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University

2007 — Dr. Jack Willke (†2015) and  Mrs. Barbara Willke  (†2022), Life Issues Institute

2008 — Dr. Edmund Pellegrino, M.D., Professor Emeritus of Medicine and Medical Ethics at Georgetown University

2009 — Prof. Gilbert Meilaender, Professor of Theology at Valparaiso University

2010 — Prof. Hadley Arkes, Edmund N. Ney Professor of Jurisprudence and American Institutions at Amherst College.

2011 — Prof. David Solomon, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame and Director of the Note Dame Center for Ethics and Culture.

2012 — Prof. William E. May, Emeritus Michael J. McGivney Professor of Moral Theology at the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

2013 — Prof. Ray Dennehy, Ph.D.,   (†2021) Professor of Philosophy, University of San Francisco

2014 — Prof. Helen Alvare, Ph.D.,  George Mason University, School of Law

2016 — Fr. Joseph W. Koterski, S.J., Ph.D., (†2021) Fordham University. Life and Learning’s founding editor (1992-2021); International Philosophical Quarterly‘s editor-in-chief (1994-21).
Laureate Address: Spiritual Care at the End of Life.

2017 — Fr. Robert Spitzer, S.J. Ph.D., Magis Center of Reason and Faith and the Spitzer Center of Ethical Leadership
Laureate Address: The Inescapability of the Prolife Stance.

2018 — Prof. Francis Zapatka, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of Literature, American University
Intended Laureate Address (undelivered due to ill health): Life Issues in Ralph McInerny’s Fiction: A Perpetual Work in Progress. 

2019 — Prof. Thomas Cavanaugh, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, University of San Francisco
Laureate Address: Pre-natal Diagnosis of Down’s Syndrome: Ethical Issues for Catholic Hospitals and Practitioners. 

2020 — Prof. Teresa Collett, J.D., Founding Director, University of St Thomas Law School Prolife Center
Laureate Address: John Paul II, Women, Abortion and Covid 19. 

2021 — Dr. Keith Cassidy, Ph.D., President Emeritus of History, Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College, and his wife Dr. Elizabeth Cassidy, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor of Psychology and Senior Research Associate to The deVeber Institute for Bioethics and Social Research in Toronto
Laureate Address: Half a Century of Strife: The Abortion’s Controversy’s Inescapable Centrality in Modern American History. 

2022 — O. Carter Snead, J.D., The Charles D. Rice Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame

2023 — Richard J. Fehring, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, a lead developer of the Marquette Method of Natural Family Planning, Professor Emeritus of Nursing, Marquette University
Laureate Address: The Challenges of a Pro-Life Professor and NFP Researcher.

2024 — Dr. Charles Camosy, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Theology and Bioethics, Catholic University of America
Laureate Address: Language, Vulnerable Populations, and the Pro-Life Movement.

2025 — Clarke Forsythe, J.D., Senior Counsel, Americans United for Life
Laureate Address: The Declaration and the Right to Life after 249 Years.

2026 – Christopher Kaczor, Ph.D. Philosophy.
Laureate Address: An Unexpected Life, Crisis Pregnancies and Learning to Live.