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FATHER OF DANIEL PEARL RECEIVES LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AWARD; DONATES
PRIZE TO DANIEL PEARL FOUNDATION
London, England, May 9 — Judea Pearl, father of slain Wall Street
Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, today received the prestigious Lakatos
Award from the London School of Economics, and, in his acceptance speech,
donated the entire 10,000£ prize to the newly-created Daniel Pearl
Foundation (www.danielpearl.org).
The Foundation promotes cross-cultural understanding through responsible
journalism and creative communication — the ideals that inspired
Daniel Pearl's work and life.
The London School of Economics honored Professor Pearl for his book Causality:
Models, Reasoning and Inference (Cambridge, 2000). He came to London to
receive the award and deliver a lecture on causal modeling and the logic
of science. The task was a daunting one in the face of his personal loss.
"My family and I have gone through the worst of times in the past
few months," Professor Pearl said. "My son Daniel was abducted
and murdered in Pakistan earlier this year, and until two weeks ago, I
was not sure whether I could muster the strength to come accept this honor."
Adding to Professor Pearl's hardship was a painful irony: Sheikh Omar
Saeed, currently on trial in Pakistan for masterminding Daniel Pearl's
murder, grew up in London and studied at the London School of Economics
for a year. But Daniel's memory made the London trip compelling. "Danny
would have encouraged me to go ahead with the lecture as planned, in symbolic
defiance of his murderers' attempt to spread fear and despair across the
globe," he said.
Announcing that he would donate the full amount of the prize to the Daniel
Pearl Foundation, Professor Pearl issued a call to action, not only to
ceremony attendees, but also to people everywhere, to join him in his
mission to ensure that his son's death marks a turning point in the struggle
against hatred.
The Daniel Pearl Foundation (www.danielpearl.org)
promotes cross-cultural understanding through responsible journalism and
creative communication. Tax-deductible charitable contributions in memory
of Daniel Pearl can be made at the web site or sent to: Daniel Pearl Foundation
c/o Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, 2029 Century Park East, Suite 4000, Los
Angeles, CA 90067.
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