Georgia Tech announced Tuesday it’s honoring Andrew Young for his decades of work to improve civil and human rights throughout the world.
Young will receive the Ivan Allen Jr. Prize for Social Courage. He will be honored during a series of events, scheduled for Sept. 13 at the Biltmore, in Georgia Tech’s Technology Square. Planned activities include a town hall discussion for students. Details about how to register will be provided closer to the event, Tech said in a news release.
Young was a top aide to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement. As a former two-term Atlanta mayor, Young is credited for help bringing the 1996 Summer Olympics to the region. As a former U.N. ambassador, he advocated for human rights on a global scale and helped negotiate an end to white-majority rule in Namibia and Zimbabwe. Young, recovering from recent health issues, is still involved in humanitarian causes.
"As a confidant and advisor at a young age to Martin Luther King Jr., Andrew Young has earned his place in history as a giant of the American civil rights movement, but his efforts to build a more just world extend far beyond our borders and that historical era," said Georgia Tech president G.P. "Bud" Peterson. "His eloquent advocacy for human rights as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations helped cement his visionary legacy around the world, and he continues his tireless, compassionate work to improve the lot of the world's challenged communities through his Atlanta-based Andrew J. Young Foundation."
Allen was a two-term Atlanta mayor, from 1962 to 1970.
The inaugural prize was awarded in March 2011 to former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia. Past recipients include Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, U.S. Rep. John Lewis and humanitarian activist Nancy Parrish.
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